Joss' Ride
by Star-Eva01
Summary: It's Christmas time in Montana, and Joss Possible-Load has a story to tell to everyone at the Bunker. Here my first trip in cpneb's "Jade" world. Opening and closing chapters by cpneb. Rate "T" for some mild Language
1. Prologue

_**Joss' ride**_

(cpneb) This is a Jade tale…but it's not by me. I had an idea for Steve Barkin to ride a bike in my story "Reality Happens", and Star-Eva01 took the idea and helped me develop it to the point that it was published. We discussed an idea for the bike to move forward in the JadeKimVerse, and Star told me that he would write a 4-5 paragraph\page description of the bike for me to use.

Well, it grew…BIG GRIN, and what you will read is from Star's wonderful mind…on sugar cookies.

Oh, and by the way:

I'm cpneb, and I approve this story.

Joss' ride…yee-haw!

--

The 'Team Possible' jet came to a stop in front of the main hanger at the Lazy-C Ranch, the snow swirling around the tires as the blizzard roared around the aircraft. The front hatch of the jet opened, and as the stairs lowered, a slender gloved hand reached out of the hatch in the cold. A person's hood covered most of their head followed, but it didn't hide the person's auburn hair…or the smile mixed with a bit of confusion and annoyance.

The person was joined by a group of three more individuals at the top of the stairs, and the foursome managed to make it down the stairs without incident. One person closed the hatch on the way out, and that person followed the other three into the hanger, where a pair of individuals stood, waiting. Both individuals had huge grins on their faces.

"Well," Kim Stoppable said as she removed her hood and shook her hair out from its confines, "what was so important that you had my husband and I fly up here on Christmas Eve, Joss?"

"Well, Cuz, Santa couldn't fit it in the sleigh, so he asked me to have you 'come and git it, please and thank you,'" Joss Possible-Load grinned.

"It's true," Dr. Wade Load was grinning, and not just because he had his hand on his wife's rear end.

"Good afternoon, Rebecca Jane," Joss grinned as one of the other individuals removed her hood. The last individual followed suit, removing her hood.

"Commander Du," Wade grinned, and Commander Lindsey Du smiled.

"Wade," Rebecca Jane smiled.

"Joss, how do you like being an old married lady?" Lindsey laughed.

"You were there, Lindsey, when it happened. Ah love it," Joss smiled and jumped as Wade 'squeezed the Charmin' a bit harder than she anticipated.

"Wade," Ron Stoppable laughed as he removed his hood and shook his blond-crowned head twice. "Can you hold off until we leave?"

"Why?" Wade asked, stealing a kiss from Joss.

"Ah don't mind, Ron," Joss giggled. "He keeps reminding me I'm alive when I'm buried in mah studies. Besides, without mah Aggie, ah wouldn't be heah," she added as she and Wade guided the group to an elevator in the hanger. They stepped in, and they sank towards the Bunker Test Garage.

The door opened, and the four stepped into what felt like a room, albeit dimly-lit with only a small area lit at the elevator door.

"Well?" Kim asked, and Wade touched a control on his PosComm.

The spotlight hit the center of the room, and in the center were two motorcycles…as much like a regular motorcycle as Rufus was like a regular rodent.

Each bike had front and rear tire pairs, separated by a small plate. The bikes themselves were bigger than the original SIS-001, and the engines looked more powerful, as well. There was a control panel on what would have been a car dashboard, and the controls and readouts were all digital displays.

But the bikes themselves were a sight to behold: both bikes were jet-black. Both bikes had the stylized Team Possible logo on them, but one had a stylized KP, while the other had a stylized RS.

Kim and Ron both stared at the bikes, and Lindsey and Rebecca Jane grinned as they watched both Kim and Ron as well as Wade and Joss for their reactions.

They didn't have to wait long….

"Joss, it's…it's beautiful!" Kim gushed and hugged her cousin tightly. "Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!"

"Gee, Ron, you think she likes it?" Wade laughed, but he was assaulted by a tall blond missile.

"Dude, you rock!" Ron said into Wade as he hugged his friend even tighter than Kim had grabbed Joss.

When he pulled back, Ron's tears were covering his face. "How did you know?"

"Well, Mr. Obvious," Wade began, and Joss laughed from her cousin confinement, "You did ride that scooter for three years, and Kim did look good on Motor Ed's bike," Wade grinned, and Ron laughed with him. "Joss and I just put two and two together, added the Tweeb's 'SIS-001' concept, and you have them," Wade pointed at the bikes and grinned.

Joss pulled herself away. "They've been field-tested, street-licensed, and they're ready for you two to have a fun time…on the bikes, that is," she grinned, and Kim laughed.

"You're just jellin', cuz, 'cause I've got my Polish dinner," Kim snarked, flashing her wedding ring.

"Polish, schomish, cuz: I've got my rich dark chocolate éclairs for dessert, every night if I want them" Joss flashed her own wedding ring, and both Joss and Kim blushed as they realized what they were saying out loud.

"You get the impression we're here just for their amusement?" Wade asked as he turned to look at Ron, only he wasn't there.

"Oh, this is wonderful," Ron moaned, and Kim and Joss turned and laughed: Ron had straddled his new bike, and he was drooling more than he ever did, even on fifty-cent Naco night. "I haven't felt anything underneath me this wonderful since…" Ron grinned and turned a bit red as he winked at his wife, Kim blushed a deep red, and Joss and Wade both laughed.

"Please, Ronald: I'm not that kind of bike," A sultry voice came from the bike, and Ron almost hurt himself jumping off before he recognized the voice:

"That wasn't nice, Joss," he chided, but she shook her head 'not me.'

"You don't recognize me voice, Ronald? I'm hurt, mate, deeply hurt," an avatar shimmered into view next to the bike.

"Gillian!" Ron yelled and stepped toward her, when another shimmer appeared, and Woodrow was standing next to her, his arm around her waist.

"Ron, you remember the deal: you get to play with Gillian when I get to play with Kim," Woodrow grinned, and Ron stopped and bowed to the young lady and the gentleman. They returned his bow with a flourish and a giggle each.

"Ah told you that Aggie and I were working on something special for you for Christmas, cousin," Joss grinned as she turned and walked toward the Bunker test garage exit and down the hall to the elevators. The other five followed her, and Ron laughed inside he watched Woodrow watch Joss, Lindsey, and Rebecca Jane with more than a bit of interest, while Wade watch Gillian and Kim walk away

'No matter: they're horn dogs, real and virtual' Ron thought with a chuckle, but he smiled as he watched his wife walk away, remembering a similar scene from Middleton Days. 'Over 10 years older, and the bubbles still haven't gone flat,' he grinned as he caught up with them at the elevator for the ride up.

--

The elevator door opened onto the huge fireplace-in-the-round, and both Lindsey and Rebecca Jane had the same question leave their mouths:

"Where did you two come from?" Lindsey asked.

"Well," Will Du replied with a smirk, "when a man and a woman really love each other like my parents did," and he was silenced by a pair of lips smothering his own.

"Merry Christmas, RJ," Arnold smiled and held his arms open, and his wife stepped into them and received her own kiss.

"Awww," Woodrow laughed, and Gillian hit him on the back of his head. "Owww," he grabbed his head and rubbed, and Joss, Wade, Kim, and Ron all laughed.

"When did you get back?"

"We landed an hour ago," Will replied.

"Brisbane was warm, and the bikinis were wonderfully small," Arnold added with a grin, and Rebecca Jane swatted at him.

Ron went to the bar, opened the wine chiller, and grinned as he pulled out 2 bottles each of Chateau TorBunk Nicole Sparkling Red Grape Juice and Little Black Dress Merlot wine. "Something to drink?" he asked, and the crowd lined up for him to open bottles and fill their glasses at the bar. After the first round, he placed four unopened bottles (two each) in wine chillers on a rolling cart and pushed them to the pit area where everyone was gathering.

"Okay, Joss," Ron smiled and held up his glass, "it's spillage time. How and when did you and my 'BIL' do this?"

Wade grinned: he and Ron were finally, officially, related, if only by marriage. 'It makes all of that head-banging Algebra tutoring time worthwhile,' he thought.

"Cuz, you remember when Momma2 called you and told you that she was going to ground me for 170 years awhile back?"

"Do I," Kim laughed. "Betty was laughing so hard, I thought she was either going to wet herself or she'd spent too much time watching 'Fearless Ferret' on _TVTrashHeap_ and was channeling 'the Trickster.' Wait," Kim grinned and took a drink of wine, "did that have something to do with the bikes?"

"Well," Joss smiled and rubbed the back of her neck. Gillian giggled as Woodrow pulled her down into his lap on the virtual couch in the room.

'She was meant for Wade,' Kim thought as she watched her cousin do just what Wade had done, all these years. She looked at Wade, but his eyes were only for Joss.

"Well," Joss repeated, "it wasn't a Tuesday, if'n ah recall correctly," she began, and the group sat back on the couches, watched, and listened to the crackling of the fire and Joss' story….

--

To be continued


	2. Part 1

Part One: Anything is possible, for a Possible

***

"Daddy, I'm going out for a ride now. Be back later."

Slim Possible carefully removed the eggs he had been cooking and transferred them to his wife's plate. He then quickly removed some of the buffalo sausages that he had cooked earlier from their draining rack, and added them to her plate as well. He moved over to the table and placed the plate in front of Betty and glanced up just in time to see the auburn haired missile that was his daughter pass by the kitchen door at a run.

"Is Wade going with you Sweet Tea?" Slim asked as he returned his attention to the pan on the stove, giving it a few more seconds to heat back up as he reached for two more eggs.

"I want to go alone Daddy. Beside, I thought you wanted to go over some of the upgrades that you wanted to install in the latest version of Tornado with Wade" Joss answered as she reached into the hall closet by the door and removed a riding jacket.

Betty, who had been watching the whole exchange quietly, saw which jacket that Joss had picked. She reached a hand out and gently tugged on Slim's shirt sleeve. When Slim turned his head to look at her, Betty tilted her head towards where Joss had just finished putting on the jacket.

"Joss, honey." Betty Director-Possible said in her level tone of voice.

"Yes, Momma2" Joss replied as she turned to face Slim and Betty.

"Remember to put on the rest of that riding suit in the garage before you start your ride Sweetheart, assuming that is, you are going for a ride on your "new" toy." Betty told her with an indulgent tone as a smile played across her face.

Joss nodded at Betty, her Momma2, and smiled back at her.

"Yes Momma2."

And with that, Joss was out of door.

Betty returned her attention to her husband as she watched him finish cooking his breakfast, and stopped herself from giggling as a thought crossed her mind, but could not stop an evil grin that appeared on her face, and then willed it back to normal before her husband saw it.

"Tell me Slim, I know that you are listed on the birth certificate has her father, and Sheri Nicole has her mother, but could it be possible, even remotely, that she really is Kim's sister and not her cousin?" Betty asked with a straight face as she felt that evil grin slide across her mind on the inside. She really did enjoy sometimes pulling her husband's chain. But this time, there was a small grain of chance behind the jerk.

Betty had noticed that the older Joss became, the more she acted like her cousin did at that age. Joss was now in her early Twenties, and like Kim before her, was a very active partner with Wade in BlazeIT and also did work when needed for Team Possible. And if not for the slightly different tones in hair color as both were redheads: Kim's just a light and brighter shade then Joss', and for the different color eyes: Kim's green and Joss' blue, they could most likely pass for sisters.

Slim, who had placed his own eggs and sausages on a plate, sat down beside his wife and speared a sausage on his fork and looked at it with some thought. He seemed to think on his answer for a moment or two before he took a small bite. He chewed it very carefully, then took a sip of his coffee before he looked Betty dead in the eyes and answered her question.

"I know that I'm her father Elisabeth, just like I know that Sheri Nicole is her mother. All you really have to do is look at her legs for proof; Heaven help every male she runs into wearing those shorts, she inherited has Sheri Nicole's legs."

Slim paused for a moment to take another bite of his eggs and drink a bit more coffee. Betty really had been teasing Slim about Kim and Joss but there were so many things that they both had in common and the eerie similar paths that their lives had taken that if someone, "outside looking in," really gave it a few minutes thought they mostly likely could not help but wonder about it themselves.

In the years that she and Slim had been married, she had had more than one chance to have blood and genetic workups done on both Kim and Joss. Being the head of Global Justice give her the right to request the tests of any field agent that was under her command, even if the agent or agents in question were just temporarily assigned to GJ, as the records for all members of Team Possible and BlazeIT S&R were listed inside Global Justice Databases.

She held her curiosity about finding any evidence of Kim and Joss being more closely related at bay during the time she had been "dating" Slim. But after becoming the step-mother of Joss and an aunt of Kim's, she had spent even more time in closer proximity to both girls and saw the similarities more closely than ever but would not dig deeper because she felt that both girls deserved, much less had earned, their privacy.

However plain old fashion curiosity had won out in the end and she took one opportunity and had a team in Global Justice run the tests just as an exercise to satisfy her own burning curiosity.

They turned up nothing out of the norm. Both young women were blood type A+, both had an odd marker in the genes that was a match for the same odd marker that Slim, James, and Esther Possible carried in their genes as well. The marker was not harmful, but no one in the Global Justice Medical Corp could figure out was it was.

No evidence that proved anything one way or the other, other than proving that Kim and Joss were related. And at that point, Betty had been ready to just forget it as a bad decision on her part until Global Justice's Chef Medical Officer told her details about something that he had learned about two months earlier.

Something that was odd…

Something that was weird…

Something that evolved one Kimberly Ann Possible.

A young new medic on his first field assignment, worried that Kim might have lost a lot of blood after being hurt on a mission, did something that should have never been done. The medic had giving Kim blood from someone with blood that was type B. The after action report had turned up this "mistake" and an investigation had been called for. The board of inquiry, made up of the most senior physicians on staff at Global Justice, knew that any first year medical student worth his or her shingle would have known that someone with type A+ blood could not receive type B blood. And to do so risked not only the recipient becoming very sick, but also their very life as well.

As the Senior Medical Officer, Dr. Charles Percival Nebulon Adams acted as the head of the investigation. After over an hour he finally asked the one question that no one had seemed to think of: where did the medic get the Type B blood to start with as blood was not standard issue in any Global Justice Medical Field Kit.

The medic testified he was so worried that "The" Kim Possible might die on his watch that he had let a member of Team Possible convince him to do the transfusion that had indeed saved her life. When CP pressed the medic on where he had gotten the blood for the transfusion, the medic informed the panel that it was from a direct transfusion from another member of Team Possible. As she watched the video of the testimony, Betty watched a small knowing grin cross CP's face as he again pressed for the source of the blood.

"The blood donor was Mr. Ronald Dean Stoppable Dr Adams," the medic said in a low voice. He went on to testify that Mr. Stoppable had informed him that not only did he have the same blood type as Kim, but that he had donated blood to her before with the approval of Kim's mother; one Dr Anne Possible.

Betty had become enraged at hearing all of this: first there was the actions of the medic and his risking Kim's life, and for it happening and her not being informed of it until now. She had been ready to drum the medic out of GJ on a rail, but CP had talked her down and then talked her out of taking disciplinary action toward the young medic.

Once she was calm again she thought about what CP had told and shown her, she realized that Ronald Dean Stoppable had told an absolute bold faced lie. In fact he had told not one, but two lies when he had implicated Kim's mom by using her as the justification so the medic would believe Ron's first lie. She would have sworn to anyone that Ron could not lie, and here she had found him not only telling one lie, but two and they both had risked Kim's life.

And with that thought added to the others, Betty went through the roof again and once again showed the reason why a number of people at Global Justice had given her a special nick name and used it from time to time but never to her face: "Typhoon Betty."

Once CP had her calmed down, again, he said that her request for the tests had given him a reason to perform a few other tests on Kim that he wanted to try, with Kim's approval, and handed her a copy of the results of the "other" tests.

The other tests confirmed that Kim did indeed have Type A+ blood. That the donation of blood from Ron had no effect on Kim other then saving her life at the time. That Kim was like every other person on the planet in that if she was to receive Type B blood she would go into shock and become very ill and could possibly die. That the donation of Ron's Type B blood and her body accepting without any ill effects was truly a medical miracle.

Then CP informed her that he had run a number of tests on the blood samples that Global Justice had for both Kim and Ron and found that if this have been tried before Christmas their senior year of high school, it would have most likely killed Kim and drove Ron crazy with guilt. However, using samples given over time CP had found that something happened during that Christmas that somehow rewrote the laws of medicine.

"Kim can and will accept Type B blood with no ill effect, if that Type B blood comes from one Ronald Dean Stoppable" CP said as he handed over a folder.

Betty opened the folder and scanned the results from all the tests that CP had run. He had pulled samples that Global Justice had in frozen storage from all the way back to when Team Possible had gone on that first mission with Agent William Du. And test after test after test showed that after that Christmas, somehow the laws of medicine nor nature did not apply anymore in this case.

Betty sat at her desk as her mind raced trying to understand what CP had told her and the reports in front of her proved, but her mind kept yelling over and over again that that was just impossible. That there was no way that over 60 years of proven medical science that was Universal to the whole planet over could be wrong when it came to her niece

And every time her inter voice said "that's impossible"; she could hear Kim's voice say: "Impossible, check my name."

Then suddenly, she had a clear image in her mind of Kim standing there with her arm around Ron and his arm around her shoulders, their wedding rings clearly showing. They were joined by Joss and Wade, taking the same identical pose. Then Joss and Kim gave the men holding them a kiss before turning to look directly at her. Then both said that same thing at the same time: "Remember Betty, "Anything is possible for a "Possible"" then the image went just as quickly as it came.

Once she had her wits again, Betty asked CP to perform the same tests with Joss and Wade. When CP asked why she wanted him to run those tests, she told him that she "just had a feeling" as she would not dare tell him what she thought she just saw.

As CP left her office, Betty pressed a button on her desk and her assistant answered her. "Send Agent Du in here would you Kathy, I have a little assignment for him that he should find interesting."

CP returned in three days with the test results that Betty wanted and they mirrored Kim and Ron's, Betty only shook her head and muttered under her breath "possible for a possible".

Betty thought of all this in the time that Slim had chewed and swallowed another bite is his breakfast. Then Slim continued his statement.

"However, I did have a field assignment that took me away and left Sheri Nicole alone in Middleton with Squirt and Annie at just about the same time that Sheri Nicole became pregnant with Joss, give or take a week or two." Slim said in a tone of voice like he was talking about the weather with one of the ranch hands. He paused for just the amount of time it took him to take another sip of his coffee before he continued. "Sheri Nicole and I are her parent's Betty. However, "Anything is possible, for a Possible" my love." And with that, Slim Possible dug into his breakfast and Betty tried to figure out if her husband had just pulled her leg like she had been trying to pull his.

She picked up her mug of coffee and held it in her hands in front of her face so that just her eyes showed as she watched her husband eat. And as she watched him eat, she thought about how many times had she heard the phrase "Anything is possible, for a Possible" in her life now. Was it hundreds, thousands, maybe millions of times now? How many times had she parroted the phrase herself to someone when asked about Kimberly Ann Possible, now Kimberly Ann Possible-Stoppable or just Kim Stoppable when asked how she does what she does: Hundreds, or thousands of times maybe? How many times had she heard the phrase used about her now that she had married Samuel Clemons Possible and was in fact herself a "Possible" now: Hundreds of times maybe?

She thought she had understood that the phrase was just some little confidence booster that James had used long ago on a four year old Kimberly as she had started her first day of Pre-K. Or maybe it was some unwritten family motto. But in the years that she had been married to Slim, she had truly had begun to understand just what the phrase meant to this family. Her family now.

Anything is possible, for a Possible.

It's not a phrase. It's not some confidence booster a father made-up to help his little girl. And it's not some old family motto handed down from one generation to the next like some old British Family Coat of Arms given by some long lost Queen that the family clings to like some misbegotten and misunderstood legacy. No, it's not any of those things.

Anything is possible, for a Possible.

Betty was now beginning to understand that to this family, her family; it was nothing more or less than a way of life. No, that was not quite right, it was life.

To what some people would think of as a scientist "geek\nerd" that liked to play with toy rockets that really was a rocket scientist, to one of the most respected neuro-surgeons in the world that by all rights should have been a high paid super model walking down runways in Europe, to an old fashion cowboy on a ranch in Montana that was really one of the most respected and leading researchers in artificial intelligence and robotics in the world, to a young woman that was just starting her life and should be laying by some pool with a bunch of other young women talking about boys and what classes they were going to take next semester in college instead of being almost half way done becoming a Doctor following in her Aunt's footsteps and being part of one of the most respected and requested search and rescue teams in North America, or to a set of young twin men that seem to have a gift of getting into trouble and blowing things up for most of their early school lives but now are well on their way to following their parents and older sister in becoming researchers and doctors in the fields of Medical and Bio research along with Engineering and Mechanics, or to a young woman and former cheerleader that just like her mother should have been walking down runways in Europe has a high paid super model but instead is a world known and respected doctor in both International Relations and Diplomacy and also is world known for a organization that if you ask her now she co-founded with two friends when she was just 15 years old that has in every meaning of the words "Saved the World" more times then she really wants to admit to, to this group of people, this completely amazing family that she is now a part of, those six words are truly the meaning of life.

Anything is possible, for a Possible.

What do those words really mean?

To her family, they mean everything.

With those thoughts, Elizabeth Isis Possible: also known as Elizabeth Isis Director or Dr Director, the Head of Global Justice, stood up and went over to the coffee pot and poured herself another mug full, then walked back to the table and poured her wonderful husband another one as well.

"I have told you today just how much I love you?" Betty said as she leaned down and kissed Slim.

"I love you too, Betty" he told her as he reached up and pulled her down again to give her another kiss that made her glad she had given her heart to this man.

When she could think straight again, and then breathe again, she moved back to the kitchen counter and replaced the pot that she had somehow held onto as Slim gave her a kiss that made her want to drag him back upstairs and really show just how much she loved and needed him.

She looked up and out the kitchen window to see her own twin children playing in the yard just outside with Tornado Jr, a pony that Slim had designed just for the kids as a combination nanny\watchdog plus playing companion.

'The next generation of Possible's four members strong', she thought. 'I wonder what they will do to prove the words this family lives by. My Children and Anne's second set of twins,' she thought, 'just what wonders will they accomplish?'

'And when they are joined by their cousins, the future children of the women born with the last name Possible, one that still carries that last name alone, and one that also carries the name Stoppable. What will they do, as I'm sure they will be true members is this family even if their last names will be Stoppable and Load, how will they prove that anything is possible for a Possible?'

As she watched her children for a moment longer, she thought back to that assignment she had for Will Du that day when she had learned that Ron Stoppable could tell a lie. She had asked Agent Du to go back over all the records that he could find or access without alerting Team Possible what he was doing, and see if there were any records of Ron Stoppable lying about anything as that was the one thing that she as the head of Global Justice could not tolerate and it would affect how she would interact with him there and as the husband of her niece.

Will had come back in 30 days with a report that weighted in somewhere between five and ten pounds. The report listed a number of times that Ronald Dean Stoppable had bent the truth into something that looked like a half a dozen pretzels that were interlocked if he felt he had to but he had not told an outright lie. And the report listed every time that Ron had "bent the truth" that Agent Du could find. One example was the time he had spent on the high school newspaper. The events on the paper showed he had not in fact lied, but had omitted a few choice words here which lead one to believe something different then the "complete truth".

Agent Du's report could be completely summed up in two sentences: If asked a direct question Ron would answer it truthfully to the best of his knowledge with one exception and one exception only and that exception was if he felt it would harm or place Kim in danger. In that case, Ron would say and do anything he could to prevent it.

She had thought it was just a matter of semantics, Ron had lied: but in going over the transcripts of the investigation, she found that Ron had never said what blood type he was, just that him and Kim had the same type. So that made the only lie the one that the one were Anne Possible had used blood donated by him for Kim. But when she had checked with Anne she found that once again, he didn't lie. But were Ron had turned the truth upside down and inside out. Anne had used blood donated by him for Kim alright, for the blood test that Colorado law required before a couple could be married.

The events over the blood transfusion had proved that Ronald Dean Stoppable had in truth moved a mountain the only way he knew how to help save Kim's life.

'When your time comes, I pray you find someone like Ron. Someone that will figure out how to move a mountain if need be to keep you safe' Betty thought to her children.

Turning, she leaned backward until she could feel the counter on her hips and crossed her bare feet as she looked loving at her husband has he finished the last of his breakfast. Then the "joke" question she had asked him came back to her and she turned her head to glance out the window once again her children.

'Well,' she thought as she again turned to look at her husband and took a sip of her coffee, 'I sure as hell know who their father is Samuel Clemons Possible.'

***

To be continued…


	3. Part 2

Start Part Two:

Gathering Information on your Subject

***

Joss made her way from the house to the Bunker in just a few seconds, her long legs carrying her the short distance from the house to the Bunker's ground-level entrance. Once inside, Joss waved at the person sitting at the desk as she walked past to the bank of three elevators. Pushing the down button, she waited just a second or two before one of the doors open. She moved inside after Lindsey walked out, arm in arm, with Will Du.

"Nice jacket, Joss" Lindsey called with a bit of a laugh just as the doors closed.

"Wade-A, _**Blaze**_**IT!** garage, please and thank you" Joss spoke into the air.

"What's the magic word, Sweet Tea?" replied the Wade Avatar that ran the computer systems in the Bunker.

Joss shook her head as looked up into the camera that was hidden in the ceiling. She already knew that the system had checked her voice and finger print with those on file but after the last upgrade that Wade had done on the system, Wade-A had taken to playing this little game with her when she asked for access to any of the restricted parts of the Bunker; when she was alone, that is, and that included the _**Blaze**_**IT!** garage. The "magic word" was not really a password, per se, but just a game that Wade-A played with her: one that she enjoyed playing with him almost as much as enjoyed playing it with Wade.

Looking dead into the camera, Joss started to sing in her best come hither voice.

"You are my Wade-Shine, my only Wade-Shine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You'll never know, Dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my Wade-Shine away."

Joss barely felt the elevator start to move as Wade-A's voice spoke, "God, I love Strawberry goodness," which made Joss laugh.

"By the way, Joss, have I told you that you make that outfit look good?" Wade-A said, forcing Joss to think about the clothes she was wearing.

She had thrown on something would be comfortable and had not really given it much thought, but after giving herself a once over she realized that she had spent too much time lounging around at Walter's and Marisa's place as she studied for her MD. The white sneakers where her old ones from last year's cheerleading outfit, including the ankle socks. Between the socks and the faded navy colored gym shorts was a lot of tanned leg that was toned and well defined, not only from growing up on the ranch, but also from 3 years as a cheerleader for MIST. The grey T-Shirt had been modified to show a little bit of her midriff, and was printed with "Property of MIST Athletics Department Cheer Squad" on the front. The riding jacket highlighted the ensemble.

The doors opened, and Joss stepped out. She took two steps then looked over her shoulder at the camera over the elevator door, then with a devilish grin she said in little more then a whisper, "Glad you like it, Wade-A." As the doors closed behind her, Joss starting walking toward a group of rooms, off to one side of the area, adding a little more action in her 'caboose' as she walked. Just beside the doorway to one of the rooms, she stopped in front of a number of lockers.

She placed a palm flat on one of the locker doors, and a glowing light appeared. The light ran up and down her palm quickly three times, then Wade-A, again from a hidden overhead speaker said:

"Live palm print confirmed for Andrea Jocelyn Possible. Voice print and password conformation required for locker access."

"You know I really don't like that, Wade" Joss muttered under her breath as she removed her hand from the locker. Then speaking in a clear voice, "Joss Possible, Password: Alpha One Seven Delta Beta Two Nine Wade One." Then after just a hint of a pause, she added "Access, Please and Thank You."

There was a slight pause, and then the locker opened as Wade-A said, "Voice print and password confirmed and matched to live palm print of Andrea Jocelyn Possible, the sweetest of all Sweet Teas. Your wish is my command."

Joss tried not to laugh at Wade-A's double joke, and did quite well. As she reached inside the locker and removed a light blue jumpsuit that had red piping woven through out it, she muttered under her breath, "I wish you would change the data file from "Andrea Jocelyn" to just "plain old Joss.""

"If I did that, Joss, how would I ever get to see that lovely Strawberry Goodness in your checks again?" Wade-A asked in a sweet tone of voice.

Joss just shook her head as she closed the locker and, with the jumpsuit, went into one of the rooms. After closing the door, she took off the jacket and hung it on one of the hooks in the changing room. Just as she finished hanging the jacket, she heard music starting to play over the speakers just outside of the changing room. It took Joss all of about one second to recognize the song as "The Stripper."

Muttering "not funny" and thinking that Wade-A was pushing it a little bit, Joss quickly changed out of the clothes she had on and into the jumpsuit. Just as the music ended, she stepped out of the changing room carrying the clothes she had on in one hand. She took a very quick look around and then made her way to the terminal that she saw on one of the work benches, thinking it just might be time to push Aggie a little to look into the Bunker's Avatar. After all, she really didn't mind the flirting that much (it was kind of fun to be truthful) but the changing music was a little much. She entered a few keystrokes, and Wade appeared on the screen.

"Wade." Joss said.

"Yes, Joss?" Wade answered.

"We are going to have a very long talk later about the last update you did to Wade-A. And I better like most of the answers that I get or someone is going on a "Joss-free" diet for a very long time." Joss said as she looked into the screen, her face the picture of absolute calm. She could see Slim and Betty in the background as each one placed a hand over their mouth to help stifle any laugh or grin.

Joss watched Wade pale a little then nod back at her; for just a second. She felt sorry for calling him down. He really could not help it that Wade-A had developed a more wicked sense of humor that was based on Wade's own.

Well, not much, anyway…

"Now that we understand each other, Aggie, where is mah Ride?"

Joss watched Wade type a number of commands into a keyboard that was out of the camera's view, then Wade answered, "By the time you put on your helmet, boots, and the rest of the riding suit, it should be there waiting for you."

Joss just smiled at her Aggie then pressed the escape key on the keyboard to close the connection. Returning to the locker where she had retrieved the jumpsuit, she placed her palm on the locker just to the right of it. Once again, the glowing light appeared and ran up and down her palm quickly three times, the locker opened without any further action on her part, or that of Wade-A.

'Why would it,' Joss thought as she removed a pair of boots, gloves, pants, and a helmet, 'this one just holds my gear for riding the Quads or dirt-bikes on the ranch. The first locker held my Battle Suit.' Once those items were out, she placed the clothes that she had worn to the garage into the locker and closed it.

Picking up the rest of her riding suit, Joss returned to the changing room. Once again, Wade-A apparently thought it would still be funny for her to have some music to dress by and started a tune played on the piano that took Joss a bit to figure out as he started somewhere in the middle. Has she put on the boots, gloves, pants, and the jacket she had worn from the house, it finally came to her what the name of the tune was this time: 'The Entertainer.' She paused for a moment, thought, then whispered "Scott Joplin" as she sighed and stood up.

"I know that I promised to talk with Aggie about helping Wade-A find a girlfriend, but with all these distractions I'm having of late, I'm not so sure if I'm going to have the time…" Joss said in a normal tone of voice has if she was just talking to herself and didn't notice a touch of her Montana accent creeping in at the last part of it. She had lost it for the most part after starting college in Middleton, but it tended to sneak back in when she became more than a bit pissed.

The music stopped dead in mid-note.

'That was a bit hard on him; but,dang-it: I really don't like being made to feel like someone's personal entertainment center. Even if that someone is my Aggie or his avatar,' Joss thought to herself as she fastened the buckles on her boots. 'Then again, if it was an "I'm his, he's mine" kind of thing it might be different.' Picking up her helmet, she gave in to a smile for a second before she blanked her face completely, as she really didn't want to spoil the surprise: she had already talked to Wade about Wade-A's wish for a girlfriend and she believed that her Aggie might agree to go ahead and do it, if only has some kind of experiment in advancing research in AI technology and science. 'As long as she doesn't look like me in my cheerleader outfit or wearing a bikini,' she added, thought for just a moment longer, and then tagged another thought to the first, 'Or Cousin Kim either.' Once sure that her face would not betray of any of the thoughts or emotions she had just gone through, she stepped out just in time to see her ride arrive from the secure storage area under the garage on a lift.

On the lift was a motorcycle.

Finding a motorcycle there was not a surprise, Joss was expecting one. _**Blaze**_**IT!** had been using motorcycles and ATV's for search and rescue operations all across the western half of the United States and Canada, plus the Northern half of Mexico, and in the past year, the eastern part of the United States plus Eastern Canada and some special missions over seas for sometime now. Those motorcycles had be custom build for _**Blaze**_**IT!** and have a unique look to them.

But even taking that into account, this bike was different. In fact, Joss knew there were only two more like it anywhere in the world, and they were in the Possible/_**Blaze**_**IT!** Complex back at Middleton's airport.

As she walked closer to it, Joss could not help it as a wild thought crossed her mind, 'Now this is how you build a motorcycle… if you are building one for someone built like Mike Cotton, or an 8 foot tall version of the Jolly Green Giant. God, that has to be the biggest bike I've ever seen. '

The other bikes in the complex at Middleton and here in the bunker that _**Blaze**_**IT! **uses look like a cross between a sport bike and a motocross bike. They have body work like a sport bike, or has she had heard them called by some of the jocks on the football team: A Crotch Rocket. From her times riding the _**Blaze**_**IT! **bikes, Joss knew that the positioning of the handlebars and the foot pegs would give the rider a very slightly forward lean, but nothing like those sport bikes she had seen the ball players ride. Those looked like it would start to get painful in a short amount of time with over 75% of your body weight resting on your hands and wrists. The last time that Joss had rode one of the _**Blaze**_**IT! **bikes, she had been on it for over 12 hours straight so knew it was comfortable.

Unlike those sport bikes the jocks ride, the bikes that _**Blaze**_**IT! **used has room for a passenger on the back. There was also molded, into the bodywork, an area that held a number of things. Most of the _**Blaze**_**IT! **bikes carried a first aid kit, a backup radio, a length of very strong nylon rope, a basic setup for climbing or repealing, and two complete survival packs. Just to name the basics.

But this bike in front of her here is a motorcycle of a different color; in fact, to put it a different way, a monster on wheels. As she started to slowly walk around the bike she took in every detail that she could.

The front end was huge, like the rest of the bike. There appeared to be two tires with some kind of metal housing between them. The housing appeared to have a split that looked to be one to two inches wide. There also were no visible forks for support nor any connection to the bike itself. 'Just like the bike is floating above them' she thought. On closer inspection, Joss could see what appeared to be some kind of lights embedded in the housing. The tires looked to be a standard set of on\off tires that anyone could get installed on your average motocross or off-rode bike, but much wider and with an odd tread pattern.

The illusion of the bike's front end floating was spoiled when she knelt and looked directly between the tires and the frame, and saw some kind of support arm that seemed to materialize right out of what she thought of as a hub of some kind and ran straight into the frame.

As Joss stood up again, she was again taken aback by the size of the machine before her. It appeared to be well over 6 feet long, maybe 8 feet, and she thought it might be well over 3 feet tall at the saddle. Like the bikes that _**Blaze**_**IT! **used and the sport bikes that the football team member rode at college, this bike had bodywork that leant to the appearance that this machine was not only fast but powerful, as well.

The rear of the bike looked like a copy of the front: two tires on some kind of split hub with a tread pattern like the front but they looked to be even wider and larger then the tires on the front. And just like the front, the bike give the illusion of floating just over the tires and again was spoiled when she knelt to look closer and she found the same kind of support arm system only bigger.

Placing her helmet on one of the mirrors molded into the fairing, she stepped back and once again took in the whole appearance of the motorcycle in front of her. The fairing and the bodywork had what she thought might be number of vents of some kind and she assumed that at least one or two of them had to be part of the bikes exhaust system. The bike was painted a drab grey color and the vents had what looked like black grill covers.

She walked around the bike again, still a bit surprised by the size of the machine. Once the walk around was done, she moved closer and found that the body work, which covered over 80 percent of the bike had hid the foot pegs.

She carefully placed one booted foot on the peg on the side she was standing on and with a little additional help from grasping the handlebar, she stepped up and swung her other foot up and over to place it the matching foot peg on the other side. Then she lowered herself, and she sat on the bike for the first time.

Leaning over to one side, she could now see that most of her legs were hidden by the fairing and bodywork. Joss could also tell now that,although the bike was large, the sitting position was very comfortable to her as she had been a bit worried about it from just looking at the bike. As a after thought, she reached down with her left foot and found that even if she pointed her toes, she could not reach the floor with her foot.

'Not a good thing,' she thought as she recalled an number of riding lessons that she had taking on motorcycles; all of them preaching the need for the rider to able to reach the ground flatfooted for safety reasons. Deciding that she would worry about that problem shortly, she continued checking the controls.

The gear shift lever and rear break pedal fit well to her feet as if they had been designed that way, and the front brake and clutch levers were the same. By the handlebars, she could see a single panel that looked to be some kind of screen: maybe a LCD or LED panel that was about twice the size of the screen on her PosComm. On top of the tank area, there was another panel like the one by the handlebars, just bigger. There were controls built into the handgrips that looked like those found on any bike: like a turn signal and headlight switch.

Joss just sat for a few minutes, letting herself get a feel for the bike. Though comfortable, she had been worried that due to the size of the thing, it would become uncomfortable after setting on the saddle with her legs hugging the tank area as it seemed much bigger just like the rest of the bike, but it appeared that, like the rest of the bike, its size was misleading about it's comfort.

After setting there for over five minutes, shifting every now and again, she looked up and called out in her normal tone of voice:

"Wade-A"

"I'm here, Joss," was the instant response.

"Hologram mode, please, Wade-A" Joss said.

Once again, the response was instantaneous as a blue\green light flashed just off to Joss' left for a second, then the Wade-A avatar stood there, drinking a Slurpster and smiling at her. Unlike the first version of the Holo-Wade, this version looked more like her Wade...her soon to be husband in just over a year.

"You called, my Sweet Tea?" Holo-Wade said as he raised one eyebrow a little and a smile crossed his face.

"Can you give me the rundown on the new bike Wade-A?" she asked.

"Sure thing my Gossamer Berry Goddess," he said as he held the Slurpster cup out in the palm of one hand. Raising the other to hide the top from Joss' view, he started to slowly lower it down the cup's side. As he did, the cup disappeared with the lowering hand until there was nothing left. Then giving Joss a wink, he put his hands in his pockets and started.

"As you know Joss, the bikes used by _**Blaze**_**IT! **S&R are based on the design from Jim and Tim Possible for what they called the SIS-001 or Silent Interceptor Special version 001. That original bike was a heavy modified sport motorcycle they had been working on for a number of months during their first year of High School. The bike's trial run, or shakedown, was done by Steve Barkin during the failed Lowardian Invasion. One of the biggest modifications was the addition of a motor that ran on Middleton High School's Mystery Meat. The modified motor increased the overall power of the bike by at least a factor of 10. The bike was also augmented with booster rockets, a thruster system, and hidden airfoils that gave the SIS-001 a limited flight ability of about 3 to 5 minutes and a estimated top speed that, when added to the additional thrust provided by the boosters and thruster systems, would let the SIS-001, keep up with Kim's Sloth, Version 2.0 for a limited time unless the Sloth was entering its own "Booster" assisted mode."

Wade-A paused for a moment. He appeared to give Joss a causal look then asked, "Would you like something to drink, Joss?" just as one of the Bunker's Wade-Bots appeared out of the elevator.

Joss just smiled as the Wade-Bot made its way over to her. When it was beside her and the bike, Joss asked it for a large Chocolate Milkshake. The Wade-Bot made a few low sounds from inside itself, then opened a hatch, reached inside with one of its arms, and remove the asked for drink.

Taking the shake and giving the Wade-Bot a "thank-you", Joss returned her attention back to the Wade-A hologram as she took her first sip of the drink.

"Over the next couple of years, both Jim and Tim refined the design and ended up with the bikes used by _**Blaze**_**IT**! and, on occasion, by Team Possible.

"This bike is a prototype for what Jim calls the "SIS Version 10". It has the latest version of the MM motor, the new Kepler based booster\thruster system, and a better interface system. The frame and body work use alloys and metals based on Dr. James Possible's Hephaestus Project. All that adds up to a bike that Jim calls "Pure mayhem on wheels.""

Wade-A paused again. Joss took the time look down at the bike that she was sitting on one more time. As she took another sip of her shake, she thought about the last ride she had on one of the team's bikes. She had spent the first two hours of that twelve hour ride in a high-speed race from Middleton to Ogallala Nebraska to help with a agricultural disaster that started when a bio-fuel plant just outside of the town exploded. _**Blaze**_**IT!**'s main response team took one of the jets and got there in under 30 minutes, but she had been delayed by a exam at college that was pass\fail and that she could not retake. The result was her having a friend drive her to the complex after she finished the test, hopping on one of the teams Rapid Response bikes and, with the co-operation of Colorado and Nebraska State Law Enforcement, setting a new "un-official" speeding record for both states, almost doubling the old ones.

Joss was brought back to the present when Wade-A resumed.

"Once again, the interfaces are interactive, and there is also real-time instructions with the bike."

"With the Hephaestus metals and alloys, the bike is just like every Possible Woman, Joss: full of surprises. The SIS Version 10 has the ability to change riding modes on command. There currently four modes: Normal, Off-Road, Pursuit\Intercept, and Flight."

And with that said, Wade-A waved one hand over the other and another Slurpster appeared. He took a drink from the straw and winked at Joss.

"If you look in the top compartment on the right-hand side, you will find a pair of ear-buds. Place those in your ears and you will be able to hear the real-time instruction that way."

Joss opened the compartment, located the afore mentioned ear-buds and placed them in her ears.

"Any questions, Sweet Tea?" Holo-Wade asked, taking another drink.

"Just one: how do you start this crazy thing?" Joss asked as she finished her Milkshake.

Holo-Wade smiled as he closed the distance to her then he placed his hand on the larger pad on the top of the tank area.

Joss mimicked his actions and saw the panel light up. The glowing light appeared once more and ran up and down her palm quickly three times. The display by the handle bars powered up, displaying a line of text that was very familiar to her as she heard a female voice repeating the words on the ear-buds:

"**Live Palm print confirmed for Andrea Jocelyn Possible. Voice print conformation required for startup process."**

Joss looked at Wade-A. He started for a second then said, "I forgot about the mic, Joss. It's in the same compartment. It wraps around you neck."

Joss opened the compartment again and found a black ribbon looking object. Pulling it out, she held it up to Holo-Wade and he nodded. Then, suddenly, he had one. too. He dropped the Slurpster cup, and it disappeared before it could hit the ground. Then, using both hands, he placed his around his neck, making sure that a part of the ribbon with a White dot was over his Adam 's apple.

Joss again mimicked his actions, making sure the white dot was over the front of her neck. Then she looked down at the front display and saw that a countdown clock that was not there before was counting from 2 to 1 to 0 before she could do anything.

Again she placed her palm on the larger of the displays, and got the same message. This time when asked for a voice print, she just said her name in a normal tone of voice. The text went away and was replaced by another that she again heard mimicked in that same female voice over the ear-buds.

"**Voice print confirmed and matched to Live Palm print of Andrea Jocelyn Possible via Battle Suit. SIS V10 startup sequence commencing. Startup complete in 5….4….3….2….1….Complete."**

Joss was used to the normal _**Blaze**_**IT!** bikes making no sound what so ever, so when the bike she was sitting on abruptly started a faint rumble it surprised her.

Joss had noticed a stand that supported the bike when she had knelt down by the front end earlier and it was the main reason that she had not worried about not being able to reach the ground.

Then, out of nowhere, the female voice spoke again it a quiet and calm tone…

"**Stand retracting now." **

…then she felt the bike start to lower itsself. She quickly removed her feet from the pegs, and placed them so she could hopefully catch the bike it started to tip one way or the other. The bike calmly keep lowing its self until Joss was flat footed with her knees slightly bent. Once there the female voice spoke again in that same tone:

"**Stand now retracted, and seat height reconfigured for Andrea Jocelyn Possible. To lower the stand, say 'Lower bike stand'."**

Again, Joss muttered under her breath about how she wished the computer systems would just call her Joss. To her surprise, the female voice answered her.

"**Rename of data file from Andrea Jocelyn Possible to Joss is ready. Conformation of rename request is required."**

Joss could not help the grin that crossed her face as she replied, "Confirm request."

On a winning note, she handed her empty milkshake cup to Wade-A, then retrieved her helmet from the mirror. As she placed the helmet on her head and made sure it was secured, she listened to the female voice inform her that the bikes controls were currently set to default settings, some of which included the gearbox currently being set to "Infinitely Variable Transmission" or IVT mode which meant that she did not need to shift gears as the bike would do it based on her throttle demands, and assist mode set to automatic.

She looked over at Holo-Wade and saw him handing her empty drink cup to one of the Wade-Bots, and asked him to open garage door. She heard him say that the door was opening over the ear-buds. Thanking him, she gave the throttle a small twist with her right hand, and the bike didn't do anything.

She looked up to see Holo-Wade smiling at her just as she heard the female voice again:

"**With the transmission in IVT mode, you will need to place the system in either forward or reverse modes. To engage forward mode, press the gear shift lever down with your left foot until it catches. To engage reverse mode, raise the gear shift lever up with your left foot until it catches. To return to neutral, place the gear shift lever into it's current position. Caution: although it is designed to handle a shift from forward to reverse without coming to a complete stop first, it is not recommended that you do so as it could cause damage to the transmission with repeated abuse."**

Returning the throttle to it's idle position, she counted to 3 in her head before she pressed down with her left foot until she felt the shift lever click through her boots and felt the bike move just a bit forward, maybe an inch or two. Then she heard over the ear-bud…

"**Forward Mode Engaged"**

…then she saw the information displayed on the forward display screen.

Again, Joss gave the throttle a small twist with her right hand, but this time the bike slowly started to move forward. Carefully and with a tiny increase in the throttle, she turned the bike and pointed it at the exit ramp. Once pointed, she give the bike more throttle and started to pick up speed as she returned her feet to the pegs.

As she climbed the ramp, she glanced at the front display and found it displaying a readout of her speed, which was at about 20mph and that she was still in "Forward Mode". She muttered again, but time about the lack of a tach on the display. The display changed and a tach was now displayed beside the Speedo, showing that she was at 4,500rpm's and climbing.

"What's the redline on this thing?" she asked with a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Red line is about 15,000rpm Joss, but with the system in IVT mode you really shouldn't have to worry about it" was the answer delivered to her ears by Jim Possible's voice just as she reached the top of the ramp and found herself outside.

End Part Two:

Gathering Information

***

To be continued


	4. Part 3

Start Part Three:

Fun in the Dirt.

Joss returned the throttle to idle and let the bike glide as it slowed, placing her left foot down just as the bike stopped and pressing the rear brake peddle with her right. It was truly a gorgeous day with blue skies that held a few white clouds and birds gently soaring on thermals hidden from view. She could see the leaves lazily moving back and forth in a light breeze. It's a great day to go for a little ride.

Joss had stopped the bike at the top of the access ramp that lead to the bunker's underground garages. Once sensing that the access ramp was clear, the bunkers computer system, Wade-A, had started closing the "Garage Door" and Joss watched it as the last of the ramp disappeared as the door finished sliding into place leaving no sign of the underground complex. Joss turned her head back so she was facing forward and contemplated the intersection she found herself at.

Off to her right was the drive that would lead her to the ranch's own small airport system that her dad had started to have built after she had "officially" started, with Wade's help, BlazeIT. Then it was just a single runway, but after Slim had asked Betty to marry him, and she said yes, Slim had started expanding it so that it could handle anything that Global Justice flew, officially and unofficially. It had a number of hangers that held a number of planes, including one of Betty's JumpJets, two of the BlazeIT jets, and two of the Team Possible jets, just to name a few.

On the left was the drive that would take her to the front of the ranch. This would lead into a number of roads on the ranch, including access to the main road from the ranch into town and to a number of the ranch's corrals.

Straight in front of her was the main trail head that would take her to the riding trails that were on the ranch. The trails lead to almost every part of the ranch, interconnecting with each other to form their own kind of roadway system on the ranch. All could be ridden on a horse or even a Mountain Bike, but a few where reserved for dirt bikes and ATVs. An unwritten rule that everyone followed was if the trail was a "community trail", like the main trail before her, everyone behaved themselves and rode with respect to other riders, unless there was an emergency that required one to ride "like a madman". This was important as the ATVs could damage a trail with just a little "acting up."

However, Joss did know that one of the more "fun" trails made just for ATV's and motocross bikes was just a 3 min ride from where she was. And after all, she was out here for a "fun" ride.

She gave a small twist of the throttle as she released the brake and the bike started forward again. She drug her foot just a few feet before returning it to the peg as she started her way onto the trail head.

As she rode, Joss could feel the bike adjusting to the ridding conditions smoothly. The SIS V10 was running so quietly that she could almost forget that she was moving if not for the trees moving past her and the motor making a faint rumble that she could just barely hear. She just keep the speed at around 15 to 20. And, in about 3 minutes, she came to the branch in the trail that led off to the ATV trail.

Taking the trail, she went a little farther until she came to the start of this circuit where a clearing had been made that would allow a number of people and their bikes to gather, rest, and get ready to start the trail or head back to the ranch.

"OK, let's see what this thing can do," she said as she started down the trail to the right of the clearing with a large twist of the throttle. When the bike took off more quickly then she had expected, Joss found herself recalling the first time that Ron had rode Tornado:

"_Hop on Master Ronald and let's ride" Tornado said as he knelt for Ron to climb onboard. Ron mounted, put his feet in the stirrups, and grabbed the reigns. After Tornado stood back up, he asked in a perfectly genteel tone "What speed would you like Sir? Walk, Trot, Gallop, or Hell on Wheels?"_

"_Hellonwheels?" Ron said with questioning tone of voice._

"_Very good, Master Ronald" and Tornado took off just like "Hell on Wheels."_

Joss gave the same reaction on the SIS V10 that Ron had on Tornado that day in the past:

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Joss managed to equal Ron's feat with Tornado that day and hanged on to the bike as it rapidly gained speed. She regained control in time to setup for the first turn on the trail.

She eased up on the throttle for a heartbeat to slowdown for just a second then applied more power from the motor with a flick of her wrist and leaned into the corner, just like she had been taught to ride dirt bikes. But she was reminded as the bike spun 180 degrees and started back to the starting point that this was not a "normal" motorcycle.

Joss brought the bike to a stop after she had released the throttle and applied the brake for all she was worth. The end result was that she had unknowingly placed the bike into a skid that ended with her pointed in the direction that she had started out in.

Taking a deep breath and with her feet firmly planted on the dirt track, she muttered "I think that I might be the wrong mode here."

Before she could blink, she heard bike's female voice over the ear-buds:

"**SIS V10 is currently in Normal riding mode. What mode are you requesting Joss?"**

"I think Off-Road is needed here," Joss replied with a whole lot of sarcasm in her voice. But the V10's computer voice did not seem to notice as it calmly stated:

"**Please stand-by."**

Joss could feel a whole lot of her Montana "smart-ass" fire boiling away at her insides and could not help herself as she opened her mouth while she looked down at the bike. "And while you're at, what's with this olive gray color anyway? How about something a little more colorful, say a Hot Bubblegum Pink with Purple flames and with my name done in Neon Chartreuse; something fancy I think would do very nicely."

Again, she heard the female voice over the ear-buds:

"**Color change request confirmed, please stand-by."**

Joss was just about to really let go with a serious stream of Montana smart-ass when she heard Jim's voice come over the ear-buds.

"Joss, you have asked for a reconfiguration from Normal mode to Off-Road mode while still. The SIS V10 can change modes without stopping…just thought you should know."

Then the female voice that Joss now thought of as the V10's voice spoke.

"**Initiating Reconfiguration to Off-Road mode now."**

Joss didn't really know what was going to happen, but what did took her by surprise.

She heard the faint sound dirt clods shifting before the faint rumble of the V10's motor that she had become used to increase slightly. Then she felt much less saw the bike change around her.

The front tires were moving apart, increasing the gap in the hub until it could not really be called a gap or even a crack, but two completely separated wheels. But not only were they moving apart, they were also moving forward too. As she watched, the wheel hubs and supporting structure were exposed. What had started as two tires and hubs that were only maybe two inches apart where now over six feet apart and over three feet in front of the bike. As the tires moved, Joss could also see the odd tread pattern change on the tires as they took on a more aggressive appearance like those on true motocross bikes.

The clear windscreen part of the fairing started to lower itself into the main fairing bodywork until it completely disappeared leaving the handlebars exposed. She watched as the area that it had disappeared into seemed to close up like a wound closing in a time-lapse video she had watched this past semester, but here there was no signs that the wound had ever happened.

Suddenly, she felt her feet left off the ground. Spinning around, Joss could see that the rear of the bike had duplicated the front. And now the whole vehicle was lifting itself upward until she could no longer reach the ground again.

Finally she felt it stop moving completely and took a look at the bike that now looked like the world largest Quad bike. She just faced forward again when she heard the female voice informed her:

"**Reconfiguration to Off-Road mode now complete."**

There was a pause, then the Bike continued with:

"**Color change initiation starting now."**

Joss forgot about the bike changing shape just moments before as she watched the front of the fairing start to change from the dull olive gray to a hot bubblegum pink that matched the color of one of her class notebooks. As she watched, the color seem to flow from the leading most tip of the fairing and spread slowly toward the back of the bike like someone had spilled a can of paint and it flowed down from on high. As it made it's way she could see, faintly at first but growing more clear and distinct by the second, purple flames appearing as if from a lit fire that was hidden somewhere. As the colors moved to the tank area, she could see her name start to appear just behind the leading edge of the color changes as if some artist was signing her name in neon chartreuse using calligraphy letters from some long-forgotten time.

As the last of the grey faded away to be replaced with pink, Joss again heard the bike's voice:

"**Request for color change now complete. If rider is unhappy with current configuration, rider may make modifications using a combination of verbal commands and the touchpad." **

Joss looked down at what she had thought of as some kind of sophisticated LCD or LED display that had a built-in scanner, but now knew was a complicated touchpad and saw a display of the bike in its current mode in both a side and overhead view. There was also a box at the bottom that said "Current Color Configuration Correct" and had it had inside it two more boxes, one labeled "Yes" and the other labeled "No".

She touched the button labeled "Yes". The side display of the bike disappeared and the overhead view enlarged and filled most of the screen. Then it changed to a basic line drawing of the bike that now included a figure that she guessed represented her. On one side of the display was a column that was scrolling some kind of status on the bike's systems.

Joss once again looked at what had started out as a grey motorcycle and was now a hot bubblegum pink quad bike with purple flames. 'Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it' she thought to herself 'right down to the lettering in calligraphy that you asked for in a fit of "Prissiness". Guess I'd better watch my big mouth.'

Then a female voice spoke, but not the one that Joss had become used to hearing. This voice she knew quite well, the voice of Olivia Roberts, Jim's girlfriend.

"I thought the addition of the ability to change colors on the bike might be useful. So I spent some time convincing Jim that it was needed. As you can see by the current configuration, it can be used for just the fun of it, but it can also be used to help camouflage the unit, or the reverse: to make it stand out. There are defaults set for specific modes: for now those defaults can be superseded by the rider.

"Access to the Color Change Systems is done by either use of the touchpad system or by requesting a change verbally. That can be done by a simple statement like "Change color to blue." To request a more complex color configuration, more detail it needed."

"That's good to know," Joss mutter, looking back down the trail she said in a low voice, "Alright, let's give this another try." And giving the throttle a gentle twist with her right hand she started to move forward slowly.

She completed one lap around the trail at what felt like a snail's pace. She looked at the display quickly over and over and kept adjusting the speed so that she remained under 5mph. After two laps, she increased the speed to 10mph and continued around the track. This time around, she managed to watch the front end work as the bike circled, the front tires moving with the needs of the track and keeping the body of the bike steady and level as she moved along. After two more laps, Joss increased the speed again.

Joss soon lost herself to what she was doing. The feel of the wind blowing around her, the smells of the surrounding area that include freshly turned dirt and the faint vanilla smell of the Ponderosa Pines that were all over the ranch mixed with the smell of maples. The raise and fall of the bike under her creating a rhythm that she fell into like the natural cadence of riding horses that she had done all her life and came as naturally to her has breathing. And with every trip around the track, her speed increased, little by little.

She may not have been born in the wilds of Montana, but this is where she was raised and here is where a part of her heart and soul stayed no matter where she went. Even living in Middleton with Wade and Kim, something about this place called to her in a way that she could not understand or did she really try to.

Letting the rhythms flow, she rode without thought, circling around and around the track going faster and faster.

Suddenly, she felt the bike move in a way that was not right, some instinct felt the bike shift in a way that she knew was wrong. Reflexes kicked in born of genes and honed to a sharpness that could cut a hair falling in the breeze as she released the throttle causing the bike to slow as it reached the top of the incline that made up a ramp for one of the jumps and correct the bike's slide at the last second and launched into the air at the right attack angle that let her fly straight and true.

As the bike took to the air, she had just enough time to look at the display and notice that she was traveling well past the posted maximum safe speed for this trail. There was almost no feeling of landing as the bike's suspension took the impact of the landing. Quickly, she brought the speed down to something that was more acceptable. Joss kept slowing until she was below the posted safe speed for the trail, and finished the lap. At the point were the trail connected to the rest area, Joss turned and rode into it stopping dead center of it.

'If I had been on one of the ranch Quad bikes, I would have been making a trip to the doctor after that last jump. That is, after someone found me.' Joss thought as she shifted the bike into neutral. She expected to hear the computer voice inform her of the change of the bike status, but it remained silence.

She replayed the jump in her mind and watched herself cross the complete width of the track in the air and land at the edge. There really wasn't any danger as there was a large safety area there just incase someone did just what she had almost done and miss landing the jump. She had managed to land on the trail, but it was a close thing.

After a few more moments setting there, Joss reengaged thetransmission into forward. And gave the throttle a twist with her right hand and the bike sprayed dirt and dust into the air as she finished crossing the rest area and headed back toward the mail riding trail. As she turned she let the rear of the bike slide a little before she brought the speed down and as she made her onto main trail. In just a few moments she was right back at the trail head were she started from. Turning to the right, she started down the drive that would connect to the main road system of the ranch.

End Part Three:

Fun in the Dirt.


	5. Part 4

Part Four:

"Gravel Road Racing" or "Just how fast are you? part 1"

Joss made her way along the main paved road for a few moments, then slowed as she left the pavement and started down one the many gravel roads that allowed access to the different pastures, corrals, fields, and the timber patches that her father had set aside for logging. She passed a number of corrals on both sides of the road, and waved at a number of the ranch hands that she saw as they worked.

Her thoughts turned for a moment to the displayed number the bike had shown her as she had corrected for the excess speed on that jump on the trail: past double for the posted maximum to the point that it was almost triple the maximum posted safe speed.

'If this monster handles that well that it can be safely ridden that fast on one of the motocross trails, I wonder just how fast this thing really is," she thought as she passed another corral.

As she was planning a route that would take her to the main highway that would involve the least number of sharp turns and allow for the most direct route, Joss' thoughts were interrupted from a voice that sounded like it was right beside her.

"Afternoon, Miss Joss."

Joss turned her head one way, then the other in surprise, and then saw the speaker was one of the Tornado Avatars, now running along beside her, seeming to easily keep up with her. Joss glanced at the Speedo and saw that the bike was running at an even 40mph and knew that Tornado was most likely pushing his top speed to keep up with her.

"Miss Joss, you do know that you never call anymore, nor do you even write or send flowers. I'm beginning to think that you do not love me anymore" Tornado told her in a perfectly level tone. And, inside her helmet, Joss broke into a grin that would have lit the whole bunker.

"You know that I'm a one-horse woman, Tornado."

Joss swore she hear what sounded like a snort in her ears as she slowed down so that Tornado would not have to push so hard to keep up.

"So you say, Miss Joss, but I am willing to bet one of Master Ron's trout dinners that you say that to all my Avatars" was the reply Tornado gave her.

"You know what I mean, Tornado. Tell you what: I promise that we'll go for a long ride tomorrow. I'll see about getting a picnic basket then you, me, and Wade can ride out to the bluff bench and make an afternoon of it, ok?"

"As you say, Miss Joss: I will send a text message to the kitchen and request a picnic lunch be prepared for you and Master Wade for tomorrow, including the Picnic Basket," Tornado replied, changing his voice on the last two words to sound like a character from an old TV show and making "picnic basket" sound like "pic-a-nic basket" and with that, Tornado slowed and fell behind. In the rearview mirrors, Joss could see him turn around and head back the other way.

Laughing, Joss thought that maybe her dad was letting Tornado access way too many old cartoons off the Internet, or maybe Jim and Tim were spending too much time around Tornado when they came up to the ranch. Either way Tornado had nailed the voice dead on.

"I need to remember that and make sure Aggie knows about it," she said when she finally stopped laughing and was surprised when the bike's voice spoke over the ear-buds:

"**Requesting secure access to Bunker Network via remote protocols for prime members of BlazeIT and Team Possible … Access granted… Requesting secure remote access to PosComm unit listed for Andrea Jocelyn Possible per PosComm User Database… Access Granted… PosComm requesting authorized User ID… User ID transmitted as Live Palm Print scan via Battle Suit transfer… Authorized User ID accepted... PosComm unit is requesting DNA Password… Authorization Password DNA scan transmitted as DNA scan via Battle Suit transfer… Remote access granted… Accessing appointment calendar and requesting new event for tomorrow entitled "Luncheon with Aggie and Tornado" be added and scheduled to start at 11:30am MST and ended at approximately 4:30pm MST and requesting that said event be copied and sent to contact listed in Personal Address Book as "Aggie"… Event added to calendar… Requesting conformation of calendar addition and secondary notification… Conformation verified…"**

Joss smiled under her helmet as she listened to the steps the V10's systems went through to access her PosComm just to add a lunch date with Wade. She knew that Wade had enacted a super secure access system for the Bunker network (and that only a select few could access it remotely) but the idea that her DNA was her password that allowed access her PosComm was a bit of a surprise…but, then again….

"That's my Aggie" she said with pride as she started to laugh at the situation and by the end of the dialog was laughing so hard that she didn't hear the computer voice say:

"**Accessing personal settings and requests from PosComm… Initiating copy procedure of settings for download to rider file "Joss" in SIS-V10 database… Copy and download complete… Updating settings for rider "Joss" now with information copied from PosComm unit…**

She was just started to end her laughter as she passed the last corral. Once clear, Joss increased her speed. Over the ear-buds, she heard the bike's voice inform her:

"**Tread pattern reconfiguring to default mode based on the current road surface and current speed of the SIS V10.**"

Joss really had no doubt than the bike's computer system, or was it an AI, was telling her the truth but she had no way to confirm that it was really doing what it said it was short of stopping and taking a look as the tires were currently spinning too fast to see anything.

Knowing that the road she was ridding on would be making a left turn in a little bit and added with the comment from the computer system, she looked down and saw the display informing her that she was currently traveling at over 100mph. With a gasp, she looked up in time to see the turn that she thought was still some distance away was approaching very quickly…too quickly…

"Oh Snap: this is going to be close," Joss whispered under her breath as she moved the bike to the right of the road as far as she could and applied the brakes hard and with a flick of her wrist return the throttle back idle. She felt the bike loose speed rapidly and then shifted her weight and, gapping the throttle all the way open, she brought the bike into a high-speed power slide.

Fighting the big machine with everything she had, she felt the slide start and felt the rear of the bike start to kick out as it moved from the far outside of the turn to the far inside of the turn. Joss could hear gravel, kicked up from the tires, hitting the fence that surrounded the pasture on her right, sounding a little like gunshots in movies. As she fought the bike to complete the sliding turn, Joss saw the power bands in her battle suit that were not covered by the riding outfit she wore over it flare bright enough that she could see them clearly in the daylight. As the bike moved past the apex of the slide, Joss slowly eased the pressure she had on the handlebars so she could keep the front end of the bike pointed more or less dead center of the road. She muttered under her breath, wishing for more power to help control the slide or maybe a little help from the Upstairs as the thought flashed through her mind that she might not be able to make the turn.

Joss grunted as she felt control of the handlebars taken away from her as the bike's voice calmly said in the ear-buds:

"**Initiating emergency rider assistance... now. Assuming 95 percent control of SIS-V10 directional control systems and sub-systems."**

Then, for Joss, everything seemed to go into some kind of slow motion as, for the first time, the SIS-V10 truly made any sound above a faint rumble. It all felt surreal with the computer doing a running dialogue of the actions it was taking in maintaining control of the bike and helping to complete the turn in a calm tone of voice like some of the ranch hands would use to explain to some "city slicker" about how the grass in the pastures would grow better if you added fertilizer:

"**Firing maneuvering thrusters, configuring tires for maximum grip, engaging four wheel drive, firing booster system, initiating rider safety procedures Alpha1 through Alpha 3A, initiating Battle Suit protection subroutine Baker 1A."**

Joss felt something kick the bike hard from the right side, and then almost immediately kick it again from the rear as the bike fired thrusters hidden in the bodywork, producing a sound like a hundred whips cracking in the air. Joss could see what looked like a cross between compressed air and rocket fire coming from some of the vents at the front of the fairing just behind where the front tires would have been if the bike was back in what the computer called "Normal" mode and guessed from the reaction she felt from the bike that it had also fired some in the rear as well as the bike seemed to push it's self toward the center of the road. At the same time, she could feel the bike heaving its self forward as she unconsciously tightened her grip on the handlebars; the bike gave the impression that it wanted to launch itself from underneath her as the bike made a sound: a cross between a roaring lion and a sonic boom.

At the same time, she saw her battle suit's protective shield spring to life just as gravel from the front tires began to spray the front of the bike and her legs. She could see her suit's protective shield waver and ripple like waves on a still pond as what she thought must be gravel from the road was thrown at it, only to have them bounce off and fly away in another direction. The power bans flared brightly with each impact and then dimmed back down to a faint glow, giving the appearance of lights on a Christmas tree flashing on and off, but at such a high rate of speed that they seemed to flow up and down her body like waves.

At the same time, it felt to her like the bike was changing under her, elongating as she felt her body stretch out a little to place more of her weight onto her hands. It felt like her feet were moved toward the back of the bike. This only seemed to last for a few moments, just long enough for a fleeting impression. then it was like it never happened.

The bike centered itself in the middle of the gravel road as the thruster and booster systems stopped firing and then, to Joss, it was as if the slow motion effect the world had gone into was now forced to play catch-up. Everything that she had thought she had felt or thought she had saw seemed to become a blur of things that could not have happened.

Joss shook her head in an effort to clear the cobwebs that seemed to be clouding her thoughts on what had just happened and making her doubt what she had just experienced when the bike's voice spoke over the ear-buds, removing any doubt as to what had just happened:

"**Ending emergency rider assistance now… Returning control of SIS-V10 directional control systems to rider discretion and placing directional control sub-systems in assist\standby mode... Due to current speed, reconfiguring to Normal riding mode now."**

Still at a bit of a loss over the events in the past few moments, Joss didn't say anything as she felt the bike change around her, watching fairing open up and the clear windscreen part rise up until it was back in place as, once again, the opening closed as if it was never there. She could see the two front tires and the supporting structures start pulling themselves back towards each other and the bike until they appeared just like she saw them in the garage as two tires on a split hub. She assumed that the rear of the bike was changing back to the same state while she also noticed the bike lower itself down to the same level that it was, just before she had left the underground garage area of the Bunker.

Once the reconfiguration was complete, Joss rode for a moment or two in hushed silence as her brain processed everything that had just happened: the computer systems engaging an assist mode, firing thrusters and boosters without being told, taking control of the bike away from her without even a "How do you do", overriding and taking control of her battle suit, and everything else it had done to keep her safe. She added it all together as she looked down at the front display and found the Speedo listing her current speed at just below 200mph.

The fence posts were going by so fast that she could not make out the separate individual posts. Just as she was about to apply the brakes, the computer voice spoke up again:

"**Warning: approaching transition from the Lazy C Ranch's private roadway to Little Dry Road. The transition, at current rate of speed, will result in the SIS-V10 becoming airborne for a limited time. Current GPS and real time satellite imagery show no traffic on highway within 20 miles the Lazy C entry gate that the SIS-V10 is approaching if you wish to continue at this pace, it is safe to proceed at this time."**

"I wonder just how far this thing can jump" Joss said as the "anything is possible for a Possible" part of her nature took over.

"**Figuring the current rate of speed and the gradient angle of the transition acting as a ramp, the SIS-V10 should jump somewhere between 200 and 300 yards. Assuming you wish to continue with current speed and direction. "**

Joss just smiled behind her helmet as the bike keep barreling down the gravel road, closing the distance to the highway.

"Oh yeah. Let's see just how well this horse jumps a fence."

"**Warning: approaching transition from the Lazy C Ranch's private roadway to Little Dry Road. Transition is approximately three minutes away. **

**Warning: battle suits power level is down to 40 percent. Insufficient power in the battle suit to allow rider to maintain control during the upcoming maneuver, initiating battle suit recharge and supplemental power procedures."**

Joss felt something faintly press against a spot between her right heel and ankle. At the same time the bike informed her that it was starting the supplemental powering of her battle suit, but did it in Jim's voice not the female voice that she had come to think of as the bike's computer voice:

**Warning: supplemental powering of battle suit starting. Warning: transition to Little Dry Road in 10 seconds. Initiation Standard Battle suit recharging procedures.**

Joss saw the gate to the ranch fly by in a blur. Just as the bike launched itself into the air as it reached were the gravel road meet the pavement of Little Dry Road, two cables emerged from the tank area of the bike and started to snake toward her. The cables moved up past her waist, and kept going toward another part her anatomy.

As the bike took flight Joss yelled in a voice that anyone would not have any trouble hearing, if anyone was there to listen.

"**WHAT IN THE SAM HILL…**

**TWEEBS!!!"**

End Part Four:

"Gravel Road Racing" or "Just how fast are you? part 1"


	6. Part 5

Part Five:

"Dancing In The Streets " or "Just how fast are you? Part 2"

"**WHAT THE SAM HILL…TWEEBS!!!"**

Joss was too taken in by the feeling of flying at the moment to notice that once she started yelling, the cables retracted back into the bike.

She knew she was reacting on instincts as the noise increased as her head rose above the windscreen part of the fairing. She raised herself up off the seat and stood on the foot pegs with her knees bent. The ground became more distant has the bike kept climbing in its arc, the front end starting to rise as the rear lowered slightly.

The feeling in her stomach was close to what she got when Momma2 took her up in one of Global Justice's JumpJets and hit the afterburners, or like that feeling she got from riding one of the roll coasters at the reopened Middleton theme park, or the first time she had jumped out of a plane: the feeling of leaving your stomach behind for a second or two then to have it race to catch back up in a single heartbeat.

Then the feeling of really flying, if only for a few moments, kicked in.

She was just like Kim when it came to the rush\feeling she got from skydiving: the adrenaline racing through her veins pushing the endorphins straight to her brain giving the simultaneous sensations of everything speeding up and slowing down at the same time. In skydiving, the height fuelled the illusion of flying like an eagle instead of falling, even if you were wearing what was called a squirrel suit which would let you travel more distance you were still truly just falling. The illusion of flying while skydiving was also hampered by the fact that although you were moving at a great speed, the height hid the impression of that speed until you were close to the ground where you could not escape it.

And that is where Kim and herself differed, Kim loved the feeling of freedom she got from the fall and Joss loved the feeling of flying at speed at the end: Kim liked to fly high in the sky, and Joss liked to fly close to the ground.

In her psychology class, Joss had studied the term "adrenaline junkie" and found that she and Kim were both text book cases. However, she also learned that unlike her cousin, she was also a "Speed Freak" as well.

The truth had been pointed out to her in a way that came as a surprise. When Kim, Ron, and Wade had taken her on a armband day to the Middleton theme park just after they had completed a new coaster: The Speed Demon. Ron had told Joss that although he would do anything for his Kim, ridding the Demon 10 times in a row was just something that he couldn't do due to biological problems. Joss had told him not to worry, that she could keep up with Cousin Kim, no problem. Kim had looked at her, and taken the statement as a challenge. Ron had gotten off in just three trips, Wade in 5. Joss and Kim were still going at 12.

And that was when the ride manager asked them nicely to let others on. They thanked the manager and hopped off the ride then, but Wade had noticed that neither Kim nor Joss had been happy about the outcome, and had talked the owner of the park to let them stay after it closed to settle things. So at 10:30 that night, Kim and Joss settled into the front car on the ride and started counting.

The Speed Demon earned its name for being the fastest ride that Colorado had in any theme park. With a top speed of over 100mph from two magnetic launches, the ride made over twenty twists and bends and had over 10 hills of different heights, but ever going inverted during the 3 minute ride. After the girls had been on the ride for 30 minutes, Ron and Wade ordered pizza from BlackTiles Pizza along with drinks, and with the ride controller settled in for the long haul. Has the contest moved on, both girls never screamed or made a sound that the boys could hear. They just keep going and going. After the hour and a half mark, both agreed to a 10 minute bathroom break then climbed right back in and fired back up. It took another hour before Kim called a halt to the contest when she remembered some work that she needed to do early in the morning. Joss had just grinned and said they could finish the ride another day. When she got back to her place, Joss found that she couldn't sleep due to the adrenalin still pumping through her system.

As the bike keep flying, Joss could feel that familiar rush of adrenalin pumping into her system, and the flush hitting her face. The excitement driving her heart beat faster until she felt that it would beat out of her chest and fly along with her.

As the bike reached the apex of the jump and started its descent, she could feel and hear the blood beating in her ears like a massive drum cadence played by the MIST marching band at halftime, could feel the rush pulling at her. But she knew now that it was almost over, in just a heartbeat or three she would be grounded again, no longer flying in the air but flying on the ground.

"Darn," she muttered as the rear tires touched the pavement with a loud bark just like a jet's when it landed at speed. Joss hardly felt the impact as the bike brought the front end down just a split second later and it also made a bark when it contacted the pavement.

Joss returned to the seat as she roared down the road, waiting for the adrenalin rush to leave her, but found that it didn't. It just lowered a little.

As the telephone and power line poles flew by in a blur too fast the see, and the white line dashes down the center of the road flowed by in a solid streak, Joss moved the bike over to the far outside of the lane she was riding in to get ready to take a racer's line for the upcoming curve some minutes ahead. Or at least it was on a normal bike or in a car. This time however, she was on it heartbeats.

Shifting her weight to the inside of the turn, Joss leaned as hard as she could and felt the bike respond as it started the turn. Moving from the outside of her lane, she dived down to the far outside of the other lane as Joss felt her knee touch the pavement for a second then back to the outside of her lane again.

In the middle of the turn, Joss thought she heard the sound of metal scraping on the pavement and had a fleeting thought that the bike might have dragged some part on the pavement. Making sure that the road ahead was clear, she quickly looked down the left side of the bike and saw a faint wispy trail of smoke coming from her left knee then disappeared as it rose from behind the bodywork into the wind. Looking back down the road, Joss understood what had happened and what make the sound she thought she heard: during the turn she had dragged her knee on the pavement for just a second, but that second, at that speed was enough to eat away the material of her ridding suit pants and expose the carbon fiber metal composite armor knee pad to the pavement and it had acted like a grinder and started to eat away at it creating the sound that she heard.

"Just how fast was I going around that turn" she asked in a subdued tone of voice as she looked at the speedometer displaying 275mph. While at the same time, the female voice of the bike spoke up in her ears:

"**Last maneuver was accomplished at a speed of 250mph."**

"Holly crap," she muttered as she eased off the throttle and got ready for the next corner that was coming quickly.

This time, she moved to the far outside of the road not just her lane. As she leaned to the right, the bike once again responded to her input and made the turn at speed as she again took a racer's line and traveled from outside to inside to outside the road's width. Again, Joss felt her knee touch the pavement for just a heartbeat. When once more running down a straight stretch, she looked at her knee again found the same damage done to the right knee pad that had been done to the left. At this rate, she figured, there would not be any of the ridding suit's protective armor left if she took more corners at this speed.

But this speed was the reason that her adrenaline was still pumping, and she had not starting coming down from the rush yet. And she really didn't want too. The Speed Freak in her was getting its fix and didn't want to stop.

She settled for middle ground.

Knowing that there were a number of curves coming up that had a posted top speed of around 35-45mph, and that she had already taken two curves at triple the posted speed limit, she slowed down until the display showed a steady 125mph.

As she rode northeast toward Cohagen, Joss recalled some of the events that happened after she found out that she was a true Speed Junkie. Events that had gotten Aggie upset and very mad at her at the time.

After the events at the amusement park with the "Speed Demon", she had talked to Jim and Tim and managed to get them to make a few "adjustments" to the Gourd Runaway Hybrid that Wade had given her as a present that increased its top speed to around 200mph. And although she was careful when she felt the urge to "fly low" hit her, she finally got caught by the Colorado State Police one night around 2:00am burning down the interstate at over 150mph. Through the use of charm, wit, her last name, not to mention her status on both BlazeIT S&R and Team Possible, she managed to get the trooper to not write a her ticket. It also helped that the trooper assumed that she was doing something with either team at the time, and she didn't correct him. That night she promised to herself that she would not do any more late night speed runs.

After two months of just feeding that need with BlazeIT missions, as she was walking across the football field with the cheer squad captain, she overheard some of the players talking about the MIST Advanced Engineering Design department and one of the projects they were working on. The players thought it was funny that a "bunch of geeks" had been assigned a class project to design and build a dragster, but were too scared to drive it.

Later, Joss made her way over to the Engineering department. A few questions, and some name dropping on her part, got her in contact with the project team leader and Professor H. Rodney Swift, who had given the assignment. An additional 15 minutes after introducing herself and Joss was escorted into one of the department's garages and was shown the project in question.

The project was to design and build a dragster that was electric powered. The class thought that due to the requirement of the batteries onboard, they would need to build a "funny car" instead. They used a Gourd Appaloosa for the base and went from there in the design.

Professor Swift quickly agreed with the team leader and within a week the department had ordered and received one complete NHRA approved full body Nomex fire suit: complete with gloves, socks, shoes, full-face helmet, and balaclava. All sized for Joss.

A class trip to the Middleton International Airport the following Wednesday afternoon, and Joss' access to the BlazeIT\Possible complex, lead to a number of successful runs of the car. The next Saturday, the car was entered into a race in Lowerton with the driver listed as AJ Poss. Over the next few weeks, Joss drove the car a number of times and had managed to win more then she lost. As the project got the attention of some of the other department heads, Professor Swift had a tough time keeping the drivers identity a secret from the Deans.

Then as the saying goes, the other shoe dropped.

Two weeks before the project was to be shown to a number of representatives from the automotive industry, they were again racing at Lowerton with a number of the Deans of the other Departments and other professors present. Including MIST's youngest Professor, Doctor Wade Agamemnon Load.

After winning the Funny Car division with a top speed of just under 300mph, the class was just starting to load the car in its trailer when Joss climbed out of the car still wearing her driving suit. She removed her helmet and balaclava, stuffing the balaclava into the helmet, before she noticed anyone other than the class was around. When she saw Wade standing there, she knew she was busted.

"**Warning: approaching the city limits of Cohagen. You are advised to reduce current speed as Current GPS and real time satellite imagery show moderate to heavy traffic in and around Cohagen at the present time."**

The bike's notice pulled her out of the past. Quickly she slowed down to the posted speed limit, as she realized that she had completed the ride to Cohagen without noticing it. Joss had done that before, making a trip without really remembering making the trip, so it really didn't bother her that much. However, she really needed to keep her head in the game as she gave the SIS-V10 its first big ride.

Just as she started to merge with the early afternoon traffic around Cohagen, she glanced down at the bike and noticed it was still "painted" the wild colors that she had requested earlier. Thinking that it might draw undo attention to the fact that she was operating an unlicensed vehicle, and a prototype on top of that, she thought it might be best to change the color.

Recalling the instructions earlier, she said in a clear voice, "Change color to solid black" as she made her way toward Highway 59. From there, she would be heading southeast toward Miles City.

The SIS-V10's computer answered her immediately:

"**Initiating Color change now to conform to requested ****specifications****."**

She again noticed the change started at the front of the fairing and moved to the back of the bike, changing it to a solid glossy black color.

As she rode around Cohagen on the bypass, she finally gave some thought to the additional charge cables that had started up her body just before she had jumped the bike.

"What's the status on the battle suit's recharge?"

"**Currently, battle suit power level is at 70 percent and rising. Still recharging and providing supplemental power needed for any maneuvering requiring battle suit assist."**

"And the twin charging cables were for…" Joss started, then her words registered in her mind. Twin Cables…

**"TWEEBS!"**

"We thought it was a good joke Joss," spoke up the voice of Jim Possible and was closely followed by his brother Tim, "Yeah, we thought it was funny."

"When I get my hands on you two, you are soooo busted." Joss said with a slight edge to her voice.

Then she got to thinking as she pasted the city limit sign and increased her speed to just under 80mph. How could Jim and Tim be answering her questions like this without them monitoring the bike in real time? That took her to one conclusion: They were monitoring her real time.

"Can Jim and Tim really be monitoring this?" she whispered. The bike took it as a question and gave her an answer. One that she liked.

"**Yes, Jim and Tim Possible can monitor the status of the SIS-V10 in real time. If the monitoring function was enabled. Query: would you like to turn on real time monitoring?"**

"No, please and thank you. But if they are not monitoring, how is it that they are answering questions in real time? Or for that matter, how are you doing it?" Joss thought out loud as she really hadn't given it any real thought before now, seeing as she had become used to having Wade-A around and that could spoil one quite quickly. Joss remembered the briefing that Wade-A had given to her just as the bike answered her question.

"**Jim and Tim Possible downloaded a large database that is used as part of the rider interface system and the on-board real time rider instruction database. The rider interface system is programmed to mimic's an AI system."**

"And the changing from your voice to Jim and Tim's?"

"**The SIS-V10 rider interface is currently set to default mode. The current "voice" was chosen by Jim and Tim Possible as they thought it would be the most calming. When a direct question is asked that they have recorded an answer to, their recorded voices are used."**

"Can I change the default voice?"

"**Yes."**

"To any voice I want?" Joss asked as she passed a number of trucks on the highway with a quick flick of her body weight to and fro.

"**To any voice that is currently downloaded into the database, or that can be sampled."**

"Let me think on it."

Joss thought of any number of voices that she enjoyed listening to. From recording artists, to actors, to public speakers. As she let the idea float in her mind, she didn't notice the cars and trucks that she was passing with just the flick of her moving her body weight from one side of the bike to the other and back. Without knowing it, she was once again losing herself in the rhythms of the ride. Soon she was weaving in and out of the traffic, never noticing that she was pushing over 180mph again as her conscious mind was working out what voice to change to, and her subconscious mind was focused on feeding the Speed Junkie inside her and keep slowly adding more.

"How about that actor from the Constellation Crusades movies? The one that did the voice for that character called Obsidian Warrior?"

It took the computer a second or two before asking:

"**Is this the correct voice Joss?"**

Joss felt a shiver run up her spine at the deep basso voice that now came over the ear buds. She loved that voice, so smooth, and deep.

"Yes, that's the one."

"**Updating rider file "Joss" with requested change."**

"Oh yeah, update away" she moaned as another wonderful little shiver ran up her spine at the sound of the deep voice, not paying any attention to her reactions.

"**Query: the battle suit is registering an increase in hormone level and an increase in your respiration and heartbeat. There is also signs of increased blood flow to various parts of your anatomy including but not limited to your face and neck, and your…"**

Joss interrupted the voice once she managed to actually hear what it was saying instead of just listening to the voice with a loud scream saying just one word:

"STOP!!"

The reaction was not quite what she wanted nor had in mind:

"**Initiating emergency stop procedures."**

Suddenly, she felt control ripped out of her hands again as the bike took over. Joss felt the brakes being applied, and found herself being forced deep into the seat as it also took control of the battle suit again and activated the shields, but did it so that it not only spring into being but forced her into the saddle and would not allow to move. Looking at the dash display, she watched the speed fall from somewhere higher then 200mph like an altimeter in a dive bombing plane with the throttle jammed wide open as her heart rate did the opposite and skyrocketed its way to the moon like one of her Uncle James' rockets leaping off the launch pad. And all of it done with large clouds of black smoke pouring from the tires with parts of it being blown ahead of her from the thrusters firing.

Moving only her eyes, Joss watched helplessly as the SIS-V10 maneuvered across two lanes, dodged one logging truck, two passenger cars, and one motorcycle trying to pass a second logging truck coming the other direction. As the bike reached a brake check area used by truckers before descending down steep grades to insure their brakes were working, it pulled in and come to a complete stop dead center of the check area. And as suddenly as it started, it was over.

"**Initiating medical scans and preparing to transmit to Bunker for diagnoses… Lowering bike stand now"**

Still being held so she could not move, Joss found her voice at last yelling, "STOP!" followed almost immediately with "TURN ME LOOSE!"

Joss saw the battle suit's shields disengage with a brief flash while at the same time she felt the pressure holding her to the seat disappear. As she felt the bike start to rise on the stand, Joss jumped off and stood beside it.

"What the Sam Hill was that about?" she asked after taking a couple of deep breaths to calm herself. "And stop the scans, I'm fine. And whatever you do, do not send the readings you might have gotten to the Bunker. There is nothing wrong with me."

"**Readings indicate in the last two minutes, your heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration all rose to an abnormal level quickly. According to the data stored in the SIS-V10 Medical database, the sudden increase is a warning of a possible medical problem with the rider. Factoring in the detected increase in hormone levels, programming required checking with the rider for any problems. When you responded to the query with the command to stop, programming activated emergency stop procedures to insure rider safety that included contacting the Bunker facility to insure medical help is ready to assist."**

Joss thought about what the computer had just told her, then asked "When did you notice the changes?"

"**Approximately 1.5 minutes after you confirmed requested change in the rider interface feedback vocal subsystem."**

Joss added two and two together and got the answer for why the bike had acted the way it did. Saying a word of thanks that she was still wearing the helmet to hid her blushing face, she said "I'm fine. Run the scans again, please and thank you. I believe you will find the readings all within normal now, my adrenaline may still be a little high though."

"**Initiating scan now… Checking current readings with normal baseline listed in Bunker Medical database and medical data stored in the SIS-V10 database… Current readings indicate you are not in any medical danger."**

Joss smiled under the helmet. But the next thing the computer said again surprised her:

"**According information accessed during recent search of Bunker Medical database, there are a few additional probable reasons that would explain the medical readings from the prior scan. The most probable is the female reaction to something that she finds enjoyable…"**

Joss stopped the computer there with "I think you found the answer. I really like that voice, but just don't tell Wade Ok?"

"**OK."**

Shaking her head, Joss said "You're ok. A bit nosey, but ok." As she got on the bike, she realized just what she had been doing, and another thought crossed her mind.

"You really need some kind of a name," she said as the computer informed her it was raising the stand again in that wonderful voice. Then it hit her. "How about I call you Warrior?"

There was a pause before the computer replied:

"**Warrior… Request confirmed."**

Joss twisted the throttle and sent clouds of smoke, dust, and small pea gravel flying as she took off out of the check area and rejoined the traffic on Highway 59.

Without her knowing about it, the SIS-V10 reconnected the charging cable to her battle suit. Then it made a small change in the coloring that Joss had requested, by adding the word "Warrior" in a bright red script along the outside edge of the fairing on both sides.

Joss was starting to lose herself in the rhythms of the ride once again when a short time later, Warrior's deep voice spoke:

"**Relaying transmission being received at Bunker from Montana State Police. Please stand by…"**

"_Montana State Police are issuing a National Betsy Alert: Montana State Police are reporting that 10 year old Lauren Tammie Jones has been reported missing from her school. According to school __Principal Janice Van-Raning, Lauren Jones was last seen by school staff talking to a white male: approximately in his early 30's, 6 foot tall and weighting approximately 190-210 pounds with dark hair and brown eyes. _

_According to Principal Van-Raning, Lauren Jones' parents are in the middle of divorce proceedings and Lauren Jones' mother, a Ms Lynette Jones, had a restraining order in effect against the father, a Mr. Scott Jones. The staff member reports seeing the child and man near a late model four-door red sedan with damage to the rear fender on the passenger side. _

_Lauren Tammie Jones is a 10 year old female. She is approximately Four and a half feet tall and is approximately 50 to 60 pounds. She has sandy blond hair and brown eyes. Lauren was last seen wearing blue jeans, a pink T-shirt, and tennis shoes. Anyone with information about Lauren Jones, or has seen her, please contact your local police department. You can also contact the Montana State Police NaBA alert response line at 1-Montana-BR-549, or call the National Betsy Alert Response line at 1-888-BR-549_

_Repeating:_

_The Montana State Police are issuing…"_

Warrior stopped relaying the message to Joss.

Joss passed another car on Highway 59, she thought about the "NaBA." As part of working with Montana DCI and Global Justice, the Bunker was sent a copy of all NaBA alerts. So everyone that worked at the bunker was well versed with the national missing child reporting system, and they heard a number of them per month. But something about this one was bothering her enough that the hairs on the back of her neck were twitching.

"Warrior?" Joss asked as she passed another truck.

"**Yes Joss."**

"What was the time stamp on that NaBA alert?"

"**The time that the alert was given was real time Joss. Approximately 3.52 minutes ago."**

"Can you find out when the girl was reported missing?"

"**Please standby… Requesting secure channel access to Montana State Police database via Bunker DCI connection… Access granted… Requesting copy of original NaBA report for Lauren Tammie Jones… Copy received.**

**Joss, the school reported Lauren Tammie Jones missing at approximately 1:30pm this afternoon after the school conducted a search of the grounds. There was a 2 hour delay from the time she was discovered missing until the NaBA report was filled, then additional 1 hour delay in issuing the alert for the Montana State Police to check school's report. Giving a 3 hour total delay."**

"Three hours total… So the alert is new… What is it about that alert that is bugging me…" Joss muttered as she quickly passed two more cars with a quick flick of her body.

Once back in her lane, she muttered, "Something about that name…"

But she didn't have time to complete her thoughts as Warrior spoke up again:

"**Relaying transmission being broadcast from Bunker by Montana DCI officer Melisandretti Claremore, per personal settings and request instructions downloaded from PosComm Unit registered to Joss Possible… Please standby…"**

"_There has been an attempted robbery of The Montana National Bank of America's Billings' branch. Suspected drug dealer Scott Michelle Jones has been identified as the robber. Shots were fired during the failed attempt and two bank guards have been wounded along with a off-duty Montana State Police officer. _

_Currently, Montana State Police are engaged in a high speed chase with Jones on Interstate 94. The chase is currently west bound on Interstate 94 from Billings towards the city of Laurel. _

_Witnesses at the bank report that Jones has the young girl with him at the time of the attempted robbery and that she was seen entering the car. All units are to proceed with caution. Jones is driving a__ late model four-door red sedan with damage to the rear fender on the passenger side._

_Repeating:_

_There has been an attempted robbery of The Montana National Bank of America's Billings' branch…"_

Joss stopped the message being repeated by yelling out "That's it!"

"Jones was a suspect in a drug case that we have been working on, but could not get any evidence linking him to the case. That's why the NaBA alert was ringing bells."

Then Joss brought all the pieces together.

"I bet that the Scott Jones in the NaBA alert is the same Scott Michelle Jones that the police are chasing. And that nut is running from the police with his daughter in the car with him." Joss paused for just a moment then added, "That just grinds my beans" in a tone of voice that would have been familiar to any number of villains that had come across Team Possible.

"I want this nutburger, and I want him bad." Joss said has she applied more throttle, increasing her speed as she watched the Speedo numbers start to climb.

""**Warning, approaching the city limits of Miles City. You are advised to reduce current speed as Current GPS and real time satellite imagery show severe heavy traffic in and around Miles City at the present time. "**

"No way Warrior, we are joining that chase. I was told you have a Pursuit Mode Warrior. I think it's high time we found out just how well it works. Use the GPS and real time satellite imagery to plot us a route through town to the interstate."

"**Initiating Reconfiguration to Pursuit mode now."**

End Part Five:

"Dancing In The Streets " or "Just how fast are you? Part 2"


	7. Part 6A

Start Part Six-A:

"Chasing after the Big One", or "Setting the road afire: Part 1"

**"Initiating reconfiguration to Pursuit mode now Joss."**

Joss could feel her adrenal glands dumping adrenalin into her system as Warrior started to change around her.

She knew Warrior was starting to elongate as she felt herself start to stretch out as the foot pegs started to move toward the back of the bike, while at the same time she felt her hands move forwards as the handlebars moved towards the front of the bike.

Just as the thought that this position would get real uncomfortable real quick crossed her mind, she felt the pressure that had just started on her hands and groin area disappear as she felt herself shift slightly again so she rested most of her body weight now on her lower abdomen and legs; like she was leaning on a board, face down, at a slight incline. Though this was better, she knew that it too would be uncomfortable given time. As the final adjustment to her position completed, she watched the fairing start to extend its self until it covered her almost completely leaving just her back exposed.

The monitor in front of her was changing too, becoming bigger and longer until it was over double the size of the screen that was first on the tank area. Now it was acting like a camera monitor displaying the view she was still seeing out the clear windscreen with the current speed super imposed over it. Also, there were now another two screens that accompanied the first, one off to each side, they were displaying more status information on Warrior. On one screen she could now see that the rear tires were now separated much like they were when in Off-Road mode, but the front had remained the same as in Normal mode.

Joss could see a street map of Miles City was being display for the moment, and she figured that Warrior was using it as a base for its routing work. She wasn't disappointed by what she heard next.

**"Reconfiguration to Pursuit mode complete Joss... Plotting route trough Miles City for quickest access to Montana Interstate 94 per instructions and programming... Route calculated and course entered into the system... Placing directional control sub-systems in full rider assist mode."**

There was a pause for a moment as Joss raced across the bridge just outside of town, and then she felt Warrior slow its speed while at the same time she could see flashing lights appear. Before she could complain, Warrior explained:

**"Lowering current speed to maximum safe limit for planned route and activating flashing responder lights assigned to BlazeIT S&R... Requesting secure channel access to Montana Motor**** Vehicle Division**** registration system, code name MERLIN, via Bunker DCI connection... Access granted... Requesting activation of the next ****Interceptor Tag listed in database and its assignment to BlazeIT vehicle SIS-V10, Code name Warrior... Request granted."**

As Joss listened, she saw the display in front of her indicate that a sharp right hand turn was coming up quickly. She moved Warrior to the outside of the lane, and then using instincts that were a combination genes and reflexes honed by her time working with both BlazeIT and Team Possible she heaved her weight to the right with all her might and saw the battle suit's power bands light up as it enhanced her input.

Warrior dived from the outside to the inside of the turn and back out again in the blink of an eye and was then running straight down Highway 94. With responder lights flashing, Joss rode the center line as the buildings passed by in a blur and she was over the bridge on the other side of town. After the bridge, Joss navigated the sweeping left turn, or it would have been if she had been going at anything like normal speeds, and quickly found herself at the on-ramp for Interstate 94.

Exiting the on-ramp, and entering the Interstate proper, she passed a pair of tractor-trailer rigs by shooting between them, and then went around a truck pulling a horse trailer, as her speed increased. She became aware of a number of things as she glanced at the Speedo and saw it climb from 190 to 220 like the second counter on a digital stopwatch: the noise of the wind moving around her now was just like a skydive and she could feel it rippling along her back, the motor which had almost always made no noise above a faint rumble that had sounded like some motor in the far distance now sounded like the motor was much closer though still little more than a rumble, and of course there was the speed.

Joss pointed Warrior down the center of the two lanes and twisted the throttle open more. On the display, the speed was climbing higher and higher. She shot around another big rig and then maneuvered around a car on the right side, then in a heartbeat passed one on the left. With the Speedo hovering just under 280mph, she barreled along a stretch with no traffic for a moment or two, then when she rounded a curve, she almost didn't react in time when another set of tractor-trailer rigs appeared out of no where.

In a few minutes as she pasted another set of rigs, reacting just in time to maneuver out of the way as they moved a little closer. With her eyes glued to the interstate, she muttered "That was close."

**"There was 2.75 feet of clearance on both sides during that maneuver Joss. Your reaction time is starting to fall below the level for you to continue solo control. Placing directional control systems under Warrior's control with voice assist from rider."**

Like the time on the gravel road at the ranch, she felt control taken away from her as Warrior again assumed control. As Warrior maneuvered around another set of vehicles, she heard Jim's voice over the ear-buds:

"At this time, the SIS-V10 has calculated that due to the current speed and conditions, the rider cannot react quickly enough to respond to events at this time. The SIS-V10 will respond to vocal commands as to the directions and speed. Control will be returned to the rider when the SIS-V10 deems the conditions are right."

Joss felt a little helpless as she watched more vehicles fly past as Warrior maintained the direction and speed she had started with. The idea that she was no longer in complete control bothered her. She felt that she could keep up with the demands needed to control the bike at these speeds. After all, she was a Possible.

Just as she was about to voice her thoughts, Warrior interrupted her.

**"Relaying transmission being received at Bunker from Montana State Police, please stand by..."**

_"Montana State Police are still pursuing robbery suspect Scott Michelle Jones at this time. _

_State Police believe that Jones does have an underage passenger with him. State Police are currently asking all county and city law enforcement departments to assist in limiting access to Interstate 94. _

_Currently, State Police have determined that any use of Spike Strips to restrain Jones could endanger the young girl believed to be in the vehicle with him."_

There was a pause as Joss thought about the broadcast that Warrior had relayed. The idea that she might need to inform the Montana State Police that she was sure that Jones was also involved with the NaBA alert had just crossed her mind when Warrior again spoke up:

**"****Relaying transmission being broadcast from Bunker by Montana DCI Officer Melisandretti Claremore... Please standby:"**

_"This is Melisandretti Claremore of the Montana DCI. Robbery suspect Scott Michelle Jones has been confirmed as the kidnapper involved with the National Betsy Alert issued earlier today by Montana State Police. _

_This confirmation was done with information provided to DCI by sources working with BlazeIT. _

_At the request of the Governor, DCI, at this time, is assuming control of the pursuit of Jones. All pursuit units will need to report current status to DCI."_

"I bet that Wade-A came to the same conclusion that I did and informed Mel" Joss said out loud but could not help wondering why it took him so long.

Then Joss remembered something that Warrior had said when it had finished reconfiguring for Pursuit mode.

"Warrior."

**"Yes."**

"I just remembered something that you said a moment or two ago. Have you informed anyone about what we are doing?"

**"Yes."**

"Explain, please and thank you."

**"Per programming, when initiating reconfiguration to Pursuit mode, Warrior contacted MERLIN and requested the activation of the next Interceptor Tag listed in the database and its assignment to BlazeIT vehicle SIS-V10, code name Warrior. MERLIN confirmed the activation and assignment. Also per programming, Warrior has relayed current status to Bunker systems for archive. Current status included your theory involving ****Scott Michelle Jones with the earlier posted ****National Betsy Alert.**

**Using the information from the relayed broadcasts from the Bunker, there is the possibility that the archive report is the source of the BlazeIT information used in the broadcast."**

"You said that you would not tell anyone about this." Joss said as she felt her temper start to rise.

**"Per your request, Warrior has not informed anyone at the Bunker about any medical readings. You did not request that Warrior not inform the Bunker of any other information that is part of Warrior's programming. Query: Would you like to have the information deleted from the Bunker database?"**

"Yes please and thank you." Joss said with a bit of a grimace. She reminded herself that she was dealing with a computer. Like with Wade-A, she was going to have to be a bit more careful of what she said.

**"The information that was archived to Bunker database that can legally be deleted has been at this time. Information regarding the activation of the Montana Interceptor Tag cannot be deleted from the MERLIN database."**

"Just what information does Merlin have on us?" Joss asked as they passed more vehicles.

**"The information that MERLIN currently has on Warrior is that it is a Pursuit vehicle with BlazeIT S&R, and that it is a black motorcycle. No other information was needed for the activation of the pursuit tag."**

There was a pause then Warrior added:

**"Relaying transmissions being received at Bunker from Montana State Police, please stand by..."**

"Officer _Claremore, this is Captain Meadows of the Montana State Police, I have just been informed that two Police Units have been damaged in the chase of Jones due to actions taken by Jones when the Units pulled close enough to him to confirm that he did have the minor in the vehicle. _

_State Police witnessed Jones swerve his vehicle into the Units in question when they pulled along side of him. One Unit, a sheriff's vehicle, was overturned in the insuring action. The other managed to avoid serious damage. Of the officers in the overturned vehicle, one has been reported to be badly hurt and is being transported to a hospital in Billings, the other is still trapped in the vehicle and Rescue units on scene are not sure of her condition as the Officer is not responding at this time."_

_"Copy Captain Meadows. All Units are to pull back from Jones to a safe distance for the time being. I want a buffer between us and Jones. I will inform the Governor of this development. Claremore out."_

Joss listened to the transmission in dead silence. Her only response came at the end and was done with a calm level tone of voice, almost without emotion.

"Can you get an update on the injured Officers Warrior?"

**"Stand by... Accessing all Emergency Responder frequencies listed in Bunker database for Montana Search and Rescue Units stationed in and around Billings... Tapping into current radio traffic being broadcast from that area... Correlating information from broadcasts with Bunker Medical database... Please stand by...**

**According to the information transmitted from the Med-Flight helicopter and recovery units, the Officer that is currently in transport has a number of fractures to both legs and arms. The medic's also believe that there is some damage to his skull. The Officer still trapped in the vehicle is still not responsive, but they are reporting that they have located a strong pulse."**

"Any reported spine injury?"

**"The rescue team reports that Officer Case, the person currently in transport, responded negatively when checked for spine injury. Officer McNichols, the person still trapped in the vehicle, is still not responding."**

Joss looked at the Speedo and saw it was holding steady at 280 mph. She twisted the throttle all the way, but there was no increase in speed.

"Time to intercept Warrior?"

**"At current rate of speed and factoring in the last reported speed of the pursuit and factoring in no change in the current direction of the pursuit, the estimated time till intercept is approximately 20 to 30 minutes."**

Joss didn't say anything for a moment or two as Warrior passed more vehicles, then she quickly pounded her fist on the handlebar and cried out just one word at the top of her lungs:

"**FRACKLE!!**"

There was silence for a few seconds, and then Joss took a couple of deep breaths. When she spoke again, her Montana accent was in full force.

"Warrior, I want ya'll to monitor all broadcasts and transmissions from the pursuit, paying special attention to any reports of injuries. I also want ya'' to monitor the condition of both Officer Case and Officer McNichols, and I want to be informed of any news. Don't repeat or replay the broadcasts; just give me a summary.

Also, I want you inform Montana State Police that another vehicle is joining the chase for Jones. But I want it done in a way that is not traced back to us. Give as little detail as you can.

And why can't we go any **faster**?!"

On those last few words, her voice rose until the last was done at a yell.

**"Initiating monitoring of all transmissions per requested instructions and parameters. **

**This is the maximum speed for this mode."**

"Ok, what about flight mode?"

**"Flight mode would only increase current speed to 290mph. That would only reduce the estimated time till intercept by approximately 5 minutes."**

There was a pause, then:

**"There are reports coming from the pursuit of shots being fired."**

"Status Warrior?"

**"Reports indicate that Officers from Laurel Montana were fired apron from Jones' vehicle as they were trying to limit access to Interstate 90. No one is reported hurt or injured at this time."**

"Snake Muffins, that idiot has lost it" Joss muttered as she felt her tempter start to rise. "We need to get there faster then that Warrior; I don't want anyone else hurt by this nutburger." She paused for a moment, thinking about her options, when she once again remembered her briefing with Wade-A.

"What about changing to Intercept mode, would that let us increase our current speed?"

**"Yes."**

"By how much?"

**"Unknown at this time."**

"Warrior, you got some 'splainin to do..."

It wasn't Warrior that answered, but Jim Possible.

"Joss, Intercept mode has not been totally tested yet.

This reconfiguration is very different Joss. All other modes are based on the SIS-V001 and therefore maintain some appearance based on a motorcycle. This is not the case for Intercept mode. This one is based on what is the most stable and responsive platform at very high speeds ranging from 310mph to Mach 1 and higher."

There was a slight pause, and then Tim Possible continued the explanation.

"Top speed for Intercept mode is unknown due to the fact that the SIS-V10 is in total control of all systems and will only allow the maximum safe speed based on current conditions at the time. However, Jim and I are pretty sure it will out run Kim's Sloth 3.5, but not the new one we are working on for her. But give us a little time.

Most of the defensive systems have past testing, but we have not completed testing the offensive ones at this time. The defensive systems include the newest versions of the grappler beams along with prototype defensive shields."

Again, there was another pause, and this time Jim took it up.

"Make sure you completely understand this Joss, Intercept Mode is still experimental and not completely tested. There are dangers involved here Joss that are greater then those in driving that dragster for the MIST Advanced Engineering Design Department. There were options that you controlled in the car like blowing the body or pulling the chute yourself, or any number of things. But here, you will have no overrides, no emergency chute, nothing. The SIS-V10 will have total control as things will be happening to fast to react to, even us Possible's are, in the end, "Only Human" Joss. The only emergency option you have under your control is your battle suit, and even it won't be totally under your control as the SIS-V10 will be using it's shields as a restraint system.

If you wish to continue with changing to Intercept mode, confirm the change with the computer. Then hang on Joss for the ride of your life."

Joss was quiet for a few seconds as Warrior ate more miles in the blink of an eye on the way to Billings. After just a few more, she asked a question.

"Warrior, status on battle suit recharge."

**"Battle suit recharge is complete. Maintaining connection to sustain power levels at full capacity in the event of an emergency."**

Looking at the Interstate rushing by in a blur, Joss counted to 10 in her head, then taking a deep breath she spoke in a clear and level tone:

"Warrior, Intercept Mode."

**"Confirmation required Joss."**

"Request confirmed Warrior; Intercept Mode, please and thank you."

Then was a pause that Joss could have sworn lasted for minutes.

**"Confirmation of request for Intercept mode by rider Joss Possible complete... Please stand by..."**

Joss waited for a heartbeat... Then Warrior said:

"**Initiating reconfiguration to Intercept mode now."**

To be continued


	8. Part 6B

Start Part Six-B:

"Chasing after the Big One", or "Setting the road afire: Part 2"

"**Initiating reconfiguration to Intercept mode now."**

Not sure what was going to happen, but the first thing that did happen took her by surprise: the speed dropped from 280mph to just over 100mph.

Joss watched has the battle suit's shield flared to life. She had just enough time to wonder why the shield activated when Warrior told her:

**"Rider shield activated, Stage one reconfiguration in Three... Two... One... Starting Stage One now."**

Joss felt her feet move, like someone was gently pulling or pushing them forward. While at the same time, she could feel herself starting to set up more. She found herself going from that feeling of laying on her belly to feeling like she was setting in her dad's lazy-boy chair with the foot rest up about half way but it keep going. The movement continued until she found herself seating in a configuration that made her think of one of her Uncle James' acceleration couches from his last rocket design. There was a pause for a heartbeat has she watched her hands release the handlebars and move to her sides, then she watched the fairing extend until it completely covered her.

There was another pause, then she saw the front wheels start to move apart like they did when Warrior had changed for Off-Road mode. Then the shield went totally dark.

**"Stage one now complete. Stage Two reconfiguration in Three... Two.. One.. Starting Two now."**

Joss felt her self lowering. She knew that could not be, as the motor should be in the way and preclude what was happening. Her mind had just enough time to think, 'Anything is possible, for a Possible", when the monitors that had been embedded in the tank and fairing started to move toward each other until they merged into one and then that one grew larger still until it looked to be the same size has the computer monitor that Wade had setup in her room and Walter and Marisa's place: a really nice 47 inch High Definition plasma monitor of his own design.

In the light from both the new monitor and the battle suit's shield, she could see the area around her reforming its self into what appeared to be a protective cocoon. As the process finished, she watched the monitor as it started to change from just a camera view of the interstate. Now off to one side, it was again displaying a status drawing of Warrior and Joss watched as it completed the reconfiguration into a true 4-wheel vehicle. Warrior now looked, according to the diagram, like a cross between wedge and some v-winged military aircraft with four wheels. The center of the screen still showed the camera view of the interstate with the superimposed Speedo showing a current speed of 100mph. On another part of the monitor was displaying satellite images.

Just as everything was settling in, Warrior said:

**"Stage two now complete, Reconfiguration to intercept mode now complete... Running final systems check to insure system integrity now... System check will complete in 60 seconds."**

Joss could see a counter appear on the screen and start its countdown. She took the time to look around herself. There where no controls of any kind that she could see and it really did look like she was setting in one of Uncle James' acceleration couches in a rocket capsule.

When the countdown clock reached 30, the monitor changed and started to display static, then it went totally black. At the same time, the battle suit's shield powered off and the power bands dimmed to a very faint glow. Joss blinked and noticed for the first time that she was now totally enclosed in a small space with just the faint glow from the battle suit power bands giving any light. Just a shadow of light in a world of darkness.

Joss felt her heartbeat start to race past anything she had felt during her ride, and then a surprisingly odd sensation of thirst came over her as she placed her left hand on her right arm and made a pulling or digging motion, like she was trying to remove something stuck on her arm. She could suddenly feel something in her eyes, something like water, but it stung somewhat. A sudden need to lick her lips over took her, and when she complied with the need, she found that the space between her upper lip and her nose was damp and held a faint taste of salt. Then a feeling that she was not used to came to Joss' mind. Then feeling of being trapped with no where to go. In her mind, she thought about the meaning of the word trapped: ensnared, bound, incarcerated, confined, caged.

Caged...

She had been caged once before and now Joss suddenly found her self back in that cage from her past. The one that, as a very young child, had held her and her mother. The cage that drug dealers had used to imprison Sheri Nichole Possible and her young daughter Andrea Jocelyn Possible. The cage that surrounded the chair her momma was strapped to with an empty IV bag connected to her arm. The cage that Sheri Nichole Possible had died in, and her daughter almost died in when Joss had watched her mother die.

Joss closed her eyes and could feel cold shivers run up and down her spine. The old night mare from her childhood was replaying, for the first time in years, in her mind. The one that woke her up every year on Christmas has a child and young teen screaming.

Images of a younger Slim Possible and Betty Director entering the cage came into focus before Joss' eyes. Feeling panic filling her heart, Joss called out "DADDY!!"

As if in response, Joss felt a shock all over her whole body. The images of her father and Betty went out of focus for a moment then became clear again.

"Daddy, Momma's hurt and she been real quiet for a long time now" Joss whispered in a little girl's voice. Just has she saw Betty reach for her, she felt that shock again all over her body.

As she watched someone she did not know press a needle into her arm, she again felt that shock but this time it was so much stronger. Then it was followed by a voice that she recognized, one that was a deep basso that she somehow associated someone very tall and that wore a black mask. It also brought to her mind an image a dark skinned man with short curly hair and for some strange reason; chocolate. The image also recalled to her feelings of love and being loved...

**"Readings indicate that Rider is now conscious... Transmission of Rider Distress signal to Bunker for immediate Medical assistance delayed at this time... Continuing level 3 medical scans of rider to monitor Rider's current medical condition..."**

Opening her eyes, Joss saw a screen in front of her showing what appeared to be the view from a camera that looking out of some vehicle parked on the side of a road... or Interstate...

Interstate...

Memories came flooding back to her in a tidal wave pushing everything else away in an instant. Shaking her head to clear out the last of the cobwebs, she asked "Status Warrior."

**"Currently Warrior is stopped on the side of Interstate 94 at the Route 79 off-ramp."**

"Stopped, why are we stopped Warrior?"

**"After the system check competed, Warrior requested instructions from you, and got no response. After a third request, per programming, Warrior ran a Level One medical scan. Readings from the Level One scan indicated that you were most like unconscious. A Level Two scan indicated that you were not unconscious, but most likely suffering from a panic attack, once Warrior compared the scans readings with the Bunker's Medical Database.**

**Per programming, Warrior Initiated emergency stop procedures. Once stopped, Warrior scanned the Bunker Medical Database for possible ways to end your panic attack. The database indicated that a mild shock might end the panic attack as it could force your mind to focus on what is currently happening, but the data warned that it should not be tried more then two to three times. **

**Warrior had completed the third shock and was readying to transmit a Rider Distress signal to Bunker for immediate Medical assistance when readings from the continual Level Three scan indicated that you were starting to come out of the attack. At that point, Warrior finished readying the information to be send but discontinued with connecting to the Bunker for transmitting the information."**

Joss thought about what Warrior told her. Though she had never been a suffer of panic attacks, how could she be with what she did, her medical training kicked in and she thought that with the combination of worry for the people engaged in the pursuit of Jones, her own growing anger at not being able to help right that second, plus suddenly finding herself in a very small enclosed and total dark space might have triggered her attack and brought up her worst memories. The memory of her time caged and watching her mother die as a young child.

"Warrior, what does the level three scan say now?"

**"Scans indicate that currently your breathing has returned to normal and your heart rate is currently within normal parameters based on your medical profile. Scans also indicate that your hormone and adrenalin levels are still slightly elevated based on your medical profile."**

'Just about what I figured,' Joss thought, but did not say. "Current status of the Jones pursuit Warrior?"

**"All pursuit vehicles are currently maintaining a one-quarter mile buffer between them and Jones at this time. Available units are working to clear Interstate 90 of traffic ahead of Jones and insure that Jones continues traveling on Interstate 90."**

Joss had just enough time to remember that Interstate 94 became Interstate 90 around the Billings area before Warrior continued.

**"Melisandretti Claremore has been asking Captain Meadows of the status of the reported additional vehicle that was reported to be joining the pursuit of Jones. Captain Meadows has informed Officer Claremore that he has no additional knowledge of the vehicles current whereabouts."**

"Because that vehicle is us and we are sitting here not moving."

**"Correct Joss. **

**Instructions Joss..."**

Joss thought for a moment that Warrior almost sounded excited. It really didn't matter in the end, Joss was more then ready for both of them.

"Ready to join the chase Warrior?"

**"All systems are operational and in ready stand-by Joss."**

"Let's go then Warrior."

**"Confirmed Joss. Readying systems for High Speed Intercept... Please stand by... Initiating High Speed Intercept in 3...2...1...Now."**

Joss felt herself pushed backward with a force that put anything she had felt before to shame, the only thing that came close was the feeling she got when she hit the throttle on the MIST Dragster. She felt the skin on her face move, could feel the pressure forcing her back into the acceleration couch, and found she could not pull air into her lungs nor that she could not move; not even a finger.

But it all lasted just a heartbeat as she saw the power bands on the battle suit flare into life once again and suddenly all the pressure was gone.

On the screen she could see the Interstate flying by with a speed, that for a moment, she knew was impossible. A look at the superimposed Speedo showed a speed somewhere in the 200's, but it was moving to fast for her to really read. That is until it leveled out at 325mph.

"**Holly Hanna!**" she yelled out as she drew in a deep breath.

**"Currently Warrior is at the maximum safe speed limit for this section of Interstate 95."**

Joss thought about asking just how many G's she had just pulled, but thought better of it. The design team at the school had installed a G-Force meter in the dragster and it showed an average of 3.5 to 3.9 G's during a race launch. And she had been in some of Global Justice's JumpJets with Betty during a full-on climb with afterburns blazing that had taken her, if only for a second or two, somewhere in the 8.0 to 9.5 G range. Using those has a base; she thought she might have had a taste of what a full 10 or more G's was like.

'Glad I've got on Wade's battle suit', she thought as she was positive that she really didn't want to do that without the protection it gave her.

On the screen, she watched as a odd phenomenon was happening. The vehicles ahead seemed to be sliding to one side or the other of the interstate. It was as if a giant hand was sweeping them aside leaving enough room for Warrior to pass by. Joss remembered a few of the lessons in a couple of her science classes, the ones that dealt with physics and natural forces.

The professor had been giving a lecture on how natural forces affect the world, and had gotten on the subject of Tornado's and Hurricanes'. At the time, she had a good chuckle on the inside, as she pictured the Tornado avatars back home on the ranch. But once the Professor started in on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, or the EF Scale, much less the Category scale used for Hurricanes, the chuckling stopped. Has he talked about the wind speed of the different EF scale tornados, she recalled a scene from a movie she had watched called Whirlwind:

_"...a 4 is good. A 4 will relocate your house fairly efficiently..."_

Shaking her head, she returned her attention to what was happening now. And the idea of the vehicles been forced aside by her and Warrior's passing at such high speeds.

When she asked about what was happening, Warrior told her:

**"Warrior, per programming, is using the grappler beam system to gently move any vehicle the needed amount of space that is required to allow for safe passage. Warrior is also using the grappler beam system to stabilize any vehicle that has become or might become unstable due to its passing."**

Joss had just enough time to take in what Warrior had told her before it added more.

**"Montana State Police are getting reports of an unidentified object that is traveling down Interstate 94 at a very high rate of speed. The reports are coming from truck drivers traveling west on Interstate 94 using the Citizen Band Radio Emergency Broadcast Channel 9 and from drivers of other vehicles using Cellular Phones calling 911. The reports are being broadcast to Captain Meadows and to Officer Claremore at the Bunker." **

"Can they be traced back to us Warrior?"

**"The only information on vehicle SIS-V10, Code name Warrior, is the activation of the Montana ****Interceptor Tag in the MERLIN database. Said information lists vehicle as a black motorcycle attached to BlazeIT S&R."**

Joss thought about that has they raced down interstate 94, watching on the display as Warrior maneuvered through the patches of traffic they encountered or just hurtled down the clear spots.

On a part of the larger screen, there was a small section that was displaying a route map and Warrior's current location on the map. Joss watched as off-ramps flew by in blurs, first there was Old Highway 10, then in what seemed to be just a heartbeat later, the off-ramp for Custer went by. All the while, Warrior updating when the speed increased or decreased per conditions. With nothing to do but to sit and watch, Joss' mind wondered for a moment as she watched the exit for Waco go by. Suddenly, her mind went back to a thought she had earlier in the day.

"Warrior, can you access the Internet?"

**"Yes Joss."**

"Can you still change colors in this mode Warrior?"

**"Yes Joss."**

"I need access to the Internet, and a keyboard to work from Warrior."

**"There is not a way to give you keyboard access, but Warrior can enter the command you need by voice instructions."**

The largest part of the monitor in front of her changed and was now displaying the homepage she had set for her computer.

"All right, I guess you download my settings from the PosComm download. Ok, open my favorites list... Scroll down please and thank you... There, third from the bottom... That's it Warrior... Now, go to the Gallery section... Here we are... Third from the left, second row. Can you change your color to match the color of the vehicle pictured here?"

**"Yes Joss. Confirm: you are requesting a color change."**

With a large smile, Joss answered, "Oh yeah Warrior... I think this will throw everyone off the track as to who we are. And can you also add the symbol too. Say dead center on the leading edge?"

**"Yes Joss... Initiating requested color change now."**

"Great. Close down the internet access then, when the change is complete, let me see it please and thank you."

The screen returned to the camera image of the interstate, then Warrior displayed its new appearance on the status window. After one look, Joss nodded and give a small laugh. "Spankin' Warrior."

As the monitor returned to the camera image, she watched as another tractor-trailer rig was passed on the right hand side. And like the other vehicles they had passed it reacted to Warrior's shooting by it as if some enormous hand had brushed it moving the rig some 5 feet before Warrior used it grappler beam to steady it and return it to the center of its lane. Then the same happened again with two cars and a pickup truck. Then finally a light blue sedan that Joss, in the second that she saw it, thought looked familiar.

**"Joss, when you return to the Bunker, you will need to contact a Becky Barlow."**

"Why Warrior?"

**"According to your day planner, you were to contact a Becky Barlow about a shopping trip today... Increasing to maximum safe speed for this section of Interstate 95 until intercept of pursuing Montana State Police ... According to your day planner, you should have contacted Ms. Barlow 15 minutes ago."**

"Snake muffins, I forgot about that. By the way, what made you think of that now?"

**"The last vehicle passed. Programming requires me to scan all ****registration tags of vehicles passed while in this mode and log them in case of an emergency. According to Merlin's database, the last vehicle was registered to one Rebecca Barlow. I crossed referenced the name Barlow with your contacts listed and calculated a 95 per cent chance that the two were the same person." **

"Remind me to ever try to pull the wool over your eyes Warrior. Would you please send Becky a text message saying I'm sorry for not calling her. Tell her that I have been a little busy today, and will call her as soon as I can, please and thank you" Joss managed to say without giggling. When Warrior told her the text message was sent, she burst out in a fit of them as her mind could not stop the image of trying to type a message and driving down the road at this rate of speed from popping up.


	9. Part 7

Part 7

Pulling in the big one, or To catch a thief.

***

When you play games on the computer, you can get lost in the images that are on the screen. Pictures that move across the display quickly, and then somehow gain more speed and then more speed still. The images flashing by one after the other in a seemly endless parade of photographs that with the increasing speed give the illusion of motion to someone that is watching.

And to Joss, she was really just beginning to understand what Ron and Aggie mean when they talk about loosing themselves in video games. How they could forget the passing of time as they watched the screen when they played games: Aggie playing Everlot, and Ron playing Zombie Mayhem. And most recently both of them when they play "Requirement for Velocity." She caught them playing an all-night marathon a few months ago, and after teasing them over it, they talked her into joining them.

That was where she started to understand how they could loose themselves. Racing down the virtual highways, by-ways, and streets of Centerville was the only comparison she could make to what was she was seeing now. As she watched the exit signs go flying by on the screen in front of her, she recalled the same from Velocity: watching the signs flying by in the game.

First was the off-ramp for Reed Creek Road then the exit for Gribben followed by Custer and Frontage Roads. Then came the towns of Warden and Huntley.

All the while, Warrior updated the superimposed Speedo with the current rate. In her mind, she thought the average was somewhere about 310 to 340mph.

As another couple passed, Warrior said:

**"We are now approaching the city limits of Billings Joss."**

There was another pause, then:

**"Approaching the interchange for Interstate 90 and Interstate 94... Reducing speed to maximum safe limit."**

"What's the status of the pursuit Warrior?"

**"Using Real Time Satellite Imaging, and monitoring of the Montana State Police frequencies, along with updates issued from the Bunker Joss, Jones is approaching Livingston Montana now. Montana State Police are still maintaining a safe distance from the vehicle due to concerns for Lauren's safety."**

On the monitor, Joss watched the off-ramp for Lockwood pass. A glance at the Speedo displayed a steady 190mph.

"Estimated time to intercept Warrior?"

**"Approximately 10 minutes Joss."**

Joss nodded as she watched the screen in front of her displaying the traffic on the Interchange. The cars and trucks, along with the various tractor-trailer rigs were going by almost faster then she could register them. Each of them being pushed away by their passing only to be returned by Warrior's use of the grappler beam.

As they passed the main off-ramp for Billings, Joss could see the on-ramps where blocked by police cars. And at that point, there wasn't in traffic.

**"Reports are still being received by Montana State Police and by Officer ****Melisandretti Claremore at the Bunker about an unidentified vehicle on the Montana Interstate system... The Officers of the Billings Police department that where blocking access to the Interstate are now reporting our location to the Bunker and Montana State Police... The Officers are also transmitting images captured from the patrol vehicles' camera systems to Montana State Police Headquarters and to DCI Officer Melisandretti Claremore at the Bunker."**

"Can you block the transmission Warrior?"

**"Negative Joss, the transmission was broadcasted on a tight-beam direct line of sight system from the patrol car to the Billings Police Department Headquarters. Warrior detected the transmission from the Billings Police Department to the Montana State Police department and to the Bunker."**

"Oh well, how about we take a look at the transmission Warrior."

The display cleared for a heartbeat then a indistinct picture appeared. The background was mostly clear, but the object in the foreground was just a two-tone brown blur.

"Think they can clean it up Warrior?"

**"Like this..."**

The picture on the screen changed, the background becoming blurred while the foreground cleared up until the object was crystal clear.

"Just like that..."

**"There is a 100 percent chance that Officer Claremore will request that the Bunker's AI modify the image in the same way that Warrior has Joss."**

"Guess it can't be helped Warrior. Anyway, how about we return to our normally scheduled program now?"

"**Restate request."**

Joss smiled and shook her head, "Can we go back to displaying the outside camera please and thank you?"

There was not a reply, but the screen returned to the Interstate view, along with the systems status.

The display had the current speed at 360mph. Some of the Global Justice JumpJets she had flown in had gone much faster then this, as most of them could travel over Mach 1. But she had never gone this fast on the ground. Her best in the school dragster had been 312.

Remembering the dragster made her remember the look of pure anger on Wade's face as he stood there with the school deans looking at her. It took him just a moment to regain control of his emotions, then he seemed like his normal self as the deans and professors talked about the class project. But she could see his eyes, and they told the story. Joss had seen her Aggie mad before, even pissed. But never had she seen that look in his eyes before. And for a moment, Joss lost her self in the memory...

He waited until they were alone, away from the Deans, Professors, and the class. Then he turned on her, and let go.

"Explain" Wade said with ice falling from his mouth.

"Explain what Wade; I'm helping out with the project by driving the car. It's no big" Joss replied in a light tone, almost jokily.

"Yes big Joss. Racing a dragster is dangerous."

Trying to keep from laughing at her Aggie, she just smiled as she said, "Any more dangerous then fighting freaks and weirdo's trying to take over the world, or going on rescue missions into disaster areas, or helping out Mel and the DCI on drug busts?"

"Those are different Joss, and you know it" he answered, his voice going colder and colder with each word.

She could not believe her ears, Wade was mad at her for helping classmates out. Before she could even think of a reply, Wade went on.

"You are not to drive it again Joss, I'll find someone else to drive for them."

Joss went from disbelief and surprise, sure that he was joking with her, to just this side of pissed off in the blink of an eye.

"No you won't Wade, I'll drive it. I said I would and I mean to keep driving it for them. I promised them, and I keep my promises." She said, her voice growing colder with each word.

"It's not safe Joss, end of story."

"Wade Agamemnon Load, just who in the Sam Hill do you think you are telling me what I can and can't do? You do remember who you are talking to right; you do remember what my family motto is? Or do I have to repeat it you of all people?" Joss said as her voice rose in volume with each word while at the same time she maintained the icy tone.

"It's too dangerous."

"Bull!"

"It's not safe!!"

"The car has to pass a safety inspection before every race!!"

"It's untested technology!!"

"**I TESTED IT!!"**

**"IT'S NOT SAFE JOSS, BESIDES YOU ARE ONLY DOING THIS TO FEED THAT SPEED ADDICTION INSIDE OF YOU!!"**

That shocked her, that Wade would even say that to her.

"You think that I wouldn't find out about Jim and Tim modifying the Runaway, or hear about your little talk with the Colorado State Police Joss?" Wade asked.

With her temper reaching the boiling point, Joss pulled off her left glove and exposed her hand, her engagement ring clearly displayed as she held it up in front of her face.

Taking a deep breath, and looking Wade dead in the eyes she informed him "Wade, you better start making sense before I pull this ring off or..." leaving the implied "or else" hanging in the air.

Wade paled slightly at the sight of this, but he just said "It's not safe Joss."

Joss didn't say anything, she just moved the ring a little closer to her finger tip.

"It's an unnecessary risk that you don't need to take on top of what we do with BlazeIT or Team Possible," he said as a bit of a pleading tone entered his voice.

"Not good enough Wade," Joss spoke, her voice dead calm as she moved the ring a little closer yet to her finger tip.

"Because I'm your fiancé and I said so."

Joss didn't even blink as she moved the ring until it was resting between her knuckles. Her face totally blank of any expression.

Wade was now clearly shaken, and there was a bit of panic in his face.

"Time's almost up Wade," Joss said, her voice back to normal. But her eyes were blazing blue fire as she moved the ring to just below her finger tip. Leaving her other fingers to hold it in place, she watched Wade visibly gulp, reach behind his neck with one hand, then hang his head to look at his feet. Then in a whisper that she almost didn't hear, he said "because I'm scared to lose you Joss."

"Go on."

"I lost Stephanie, and I almost lost Kim. I don't want to lose you because of some unsafe technology. I can't protect you in that damn car."

Joss stood there just staring at him without making a sound.

Finally, when he looked back up at her, worried that she had removed the ring, he saw her slowly and deliberately push the ring back to where it belonged on her finger. Then, she blinked and he could see all the anger she felt inside burst out of her eyes in one flash of blue lightning. Then the fire suit ripped and exploded, flying away from her in all directions to reveal her standing there wearing her battle suit, its protective shield glowing around her at full strength.

"Wade, for someone with the IQ of at least 2 geniuses you really can be one dummy you know that. Of course I know the risks of driving the car, and I know that you would find out about the state police. I'm not an idiot Wade, I'm a Possible. That's why I always wear your battle suit you big dummy, I want to make sure I'm safe. You taught me to trust the experts, but you also taught me to verify too."

The shield disappeared as Joss wrapped her arms around Wade and started to kiss him with everything she had. Both of them lost in the moment until they heard a number of people laughing. Once their lips parted, both turned to see all the Deans, Professors, and the students standing beside them laughing.

Smiling after he managed to get himself back under control, Professor Swift shook his head as he said "Well, there goes 800 hundred dollars down the drain."

"Don't worry Professor, I'll replace the suit" Wade said with his arm around Joss.

**"We are approaching Big Timber Joss."**

Joss returned from the past with Warrior's update.

"Estimated time to intercept Warrior?"

**"Less then 3 minutes Joss... Readying systems for intercept."**

Looking at the monitor, Joss watched the superimposed Speedo hold steady at 360mph. Turning her head for a moment, she looked to the left side and saw that Warrior was activating a number of systems including offensive and defensive weapons, and was increasing the power to the grappler beams and to something that was labeled "Defensive Shields."

**"Reducing speed, interception of pursuing Montana State Police vehicles in 10 seconds."**

Returning her attention to the center screen, Joss watched the Speedo drop from 360mph to 110mph in the time it took Warrior to count down 10 seconds. Leaving them trailing the State Police cars by some thousand yards, but still closing the distance.

"Alright Warrior, it's time to get this nutburger and end this. Take us around the police and get us in close behind Jones."

On the screen, she watched as Warrior maneuvered around the police vehicles quickly then got so close behind Jones Joss thought that Warrior meant to drive under him.

**"Montana State Police are reporting that the unidentified vehicle has now passed them and has closed in on the vehicle driven by Jones... Officer Claremore is requesting units to identify the vehicle and report... Query: Should Warrior respond to Officer Claremore at this time?"**

"No Warrior, don't reply at this time." She paused for a moment then added, "You know, I really wish I hadn't told you to say that we where responding tot the NaBA alert. Something tells me that I'm going to be in a bit of trouble when I get back home."

'Now that we're here, how do we stop this nut?' she thought. Then a memory of something that Kim told her popped into her mind and an evil grin appeared on her face.

"Ok, I assume the grappler beam as a setting like the one that the Tweebs used to make Bonnie Rockwaller's car disappear their first year in high school?"

**"Yes."**

"And I noticed that you were working with cars on both sides of us, so that must mean that there is more the one beam right?"

**"Yes."**

"Can you set one beam to make the car disappear, while using the other protect Lauren with a shield?"

There was a pause for a second or two before the reply came.

**"Yes."**

Before Joss could ask or say anything more, Warrior added:

**"Warning, based on your requests and questions Joss, if the actions you are currently thinking about were to happen at our current rate of speed, Scott Jones would be critically injured or killed. The vehicle's current speed would need to be lowered to approximately 35 mph for Scott Jones to survive the action unharmed... By deploying a tow cable to the vehicle, Warrior could slow him down to the required safe speed and proceed with your suggested plan."**

"I like your style Warrior, let's do it."

**"Standby... configuring grappler beams to desired settings... configuring towing cable for required function... preparing for emergency stop... Systems ready, Warrior is standing by."**

"On my mark Warrior, in Three... Two... One... Mark.!"

It happened quickly, and in less the one minute it was over.

Watching the monitor Joss saw a cable launch it's self toward the car then attach somewhere under it. On one half of the monitor, she could see the status of one of the grappler beams as it projected a shield around the young girl, once the system showed beam strength at one hundred percent, she felt Warrior apply the brakes bringing them quickly to 35 mph. Then it showed the status of the second beam as it was quickly discharged. There was a flash and Joss watched the car just disappear and saw Scott Jones' driver seat fall to the concrete. Sparks started flying from the metal undercarriage of the seat as is slid to a stop.

"Use the other beam to hold him Warrior!" Joss all but yelled.

She saw Jones freeze in place as he was starting to get up for the concrete, just as Warrior informed her:

**"Holding."**

Joss could not stop laughing at the sight of Jones stuck half way in the act of standing up, and got a bigger laugh as she watched the police get out of their cars and slowly approach him with their sidearms drawn. But she stopped laughing at the sight of Lauren suspended above a pair of officers that were standing under her, crying her eyes out.

"Lower Lauren slowly and carefully to the ground Warrior, then release her. And loosen the hold on Jones just enough that they can move his arms."

Joss watched as Lauren was lowered to the ground then quickly moved away by the police.

"Can you broadcast a message, like a P.A. system and disguise my voice, maybe use your voice?"

**"Yes."**

"Please and thank you."

**"Systems ready, proceed when ready."**

"Attention please, I will completely release Jones once I see you have him in custody. You can move his arms enough to put him in cuffs now." Joss said then made a slashing motion with her hand.

**"Transmission complete."**

She watched a number of officers race over to Jones, and put handcuffs on him. Then Warrior told her that he had released Jones and at the same time she could see him collapse to the ground. Then she saw a number of officers reach for their radios.

"Let's hear what they have to say Warrior."

Instantly she heard the voices over the ear buds. Then she zeroed in on one, the one she guessed was looking square into Warrior's camera.

_"Captain, we got Jones and his daughter's is safe. But one of two things just happened here. Either that reported unidentified vehicle really is a UFO and it captured Jones and protected the daughter..." _

The officer paused. Then Joss could hear, what she guessed was Captain Meadows say:

_"Sure... A UFO that flies down Interstates, now tell me another good one ..."_

Then she saw the officer smile as he added:

_"Well Captain, it's either that or the Fearless Ferret is here..."_

The smile on his face got bigger as the captain start back up.

_"Yeah, I bet your going to say something else really smart too..." _

But the captain was interrupted by his cell phone ringing. The sound was broadcasted over the open mic, and Joss could see the patrol office start laughing: the ring tone was the theme from the Fearless Ferret...

**_"Damn it, will someone tell me what is going on there!!"_**

Joss knew that voice, Melisandretti Claremore at the Bunker.

"I think we need to get out of here Warrior. As quickly as you can."

**"Understood Joss, Please stand by."**

In a moment, Joss watched as Warrior maneuvered backward for a second then moved around the State Police. Once clear, she felt Warrior quickly go from somewhere under 10 to over 150mph.

***

To be continued...


	10. Part 8

Part 8:

The flight Home

Joss watched as tenth's of miles melted into miles in the blink of in eye. After what felt like a few minutes, she quietly asked how far they were from where Jones had been captured.

"**Currently, Warrior is 10 miles from the capture site and increasing distance."**

Looking at the display, the Speedo showed the current speed at just over 120mph.

"Take the next exit and get some distance between us and the Interstate Warrior. Once off the Interstate, change the color back to a solid flat black. Then find a dirt road and pull over there." Joss paused for a moment and then added "and you really don't need to inform me of every step of the way Warrior. Just let me know when we've stopped please and thank you."

"**Confirmed. Warrior now initiating instructions per request."**

"Warrior, are you still monitoring the police and DCI transmissions?"

"**Yes."**

"Can you give me an update on Officers Case and McNichols?"

"**Please stand by…**

**The hospital is reporting that Officer Case is in ICU and is reported in stable condition. Officer McNichols has been removed from the vehicle and is currently being transported to the same hospital as Officer Case. **

**Once Officer McNichols was removed from the damaged patrol vehicle, the onsite medics preformed a number of tests and have concluded that Officer McNichols does not appear to have an injury to her spine as you asked about earlier. However, there are indications that she might have suffered some head trauma. Currently, Officer McNichols is still unconscious."**

There was a pause, the Warrior added,

"**Warrior is now stopped per your instructions Joss… Awaiting further instructions at this time."**

"Let's take a look around Warrior."

The images on the monitor started to slowly move to the left as the camera paned to the right as Warrior gave her a 360 degree view. And from what she saw, Warrior had indeed followed her instructions almost to the letter. The monitor showed her that they were off the Interstate and down some 2-lane blacktop where a dirt road joined it. In the distance she could see what looked like a house being built. The entire area was completely unfamiliar to her.

"**Warrior is detecting oncoming traffic on Highway 86 from the east. It will be within visual range in approximately 5 minutes. Readings indicate that the vehicle in question is a County Sheriff Patrol Vehicle. "**

"Is the construction site empty Warrior? I'm not sure I want the Police to find us just yet."

"**Scans indicate that the site is currently inactive."**

"Let's move over there then. That should block us from view."

She watched the monitor as Warrior started to move, first turning onto the dirt road then moving up it until it turned into the gravel driveway for the house. Warrior continued moving until it passed a number of trees, coming to rest in-between three large pines.

"**Scans now indicate that the patrol vehicle has passed the construction site and is continuing in a western direction at approximately 65mph. **

**Query: why do you wish not to be seen?"**

Joss actually thought about her answer for a moment or two before answering, "I'm supposed to be out for a quiet ride on an experimental and untested vehicle. A vehicle with highly sophisticated technology that is, I suppose, classified. I got caught up in the excitement when you told me about the NaBA alert and wanted to help. I guess that might have been a mistake looking back now, but we were able to help out Mel and the Montana State Police with Jones."

She paused for a heartbeat or two then went on, "I guess its water under the bridge now. That was why I wanted you to change your color and add that emblem to confuse anyone that saw us. I mean, who would believe a new and improved version of the Ferret cycle caught Jones?"

Joss finished and found herself chuckling at the memory of the picture that Warrior had shown her, taken by the Montana State Police: A dark brown vehicle that looked like a cross between a military "Flying Wing" aircraft and a wedge on wheels with the Fearless Ferret logo on it. The more she thought about it, the more she laughed. And the more she laughed, the stronger the image was to her. Which just repeated the cycle again, making her laugh all the harder.

That is until she noticed a reaction to all the laughter…

"Warrior," she said fighting to control the laughter, "I need to step outside for a moment or two. Please let me out?"

"**Deactivating battle suit from passenger restraint mode… Removing battle suit charging cable... Opening egress now."**

There was a pause as Joss saw the top part of the area where she was open like a cockpit canopy and slide forward an inch or two then the front lifted up just like a canopy on a GJ JumpJet.

"**Warrior is now in standby alert mode."**

Joss climbed out and stood beside Warrior for a moment as she looked around quickly while Warrior closed the canopy. In just a few seconds, she found what she was looking for: a small greenish blue plastic building off to one side of the house. Across the front was emblazoned Drakken's "Mr. Potty" logo.

Quickly she made her way over to the building, removing her jacket and helmet as she went while calling over her shoulder "I'll be right back, and no peeking Warrior." Then opening the door, she stepped inside.

Once the door closed, it took all of about two seconds before anyone standing outside would have heard her yell "**Oh My God!**"

Over her ear-buds, Joss heard Warrior ask if she was ok. Her only response could again be heard by anyone that might have been close by: "**Holy Smokes**, it stinks in here… How in the name of **Sam Hill** do guys put up with this in the first place? At least they have some TP in here anyway, **but Jeezz**, couldn't they put some kind of air fresher in here? I mean, roasted skunk butt has to smell better that this…"

There was a few moments pause before another sound was made.

"I'm going to have to take an hour long shower just to get the smell out of my hair, much less off me… And no telling how long Aggie will have to work to get it out of my riding suit much less my battle suit…"

There was another pause of a few more minutes then the door opened and Joss stepped outside with her teal eyes closed and waving a hand across her face. That was the reason she didn't see what she now calmly walked into.

"Ouch, that smarts…" she said as she opened her eyes and rubbed her shin.

Setting there, with just enough room between them to open the door, was Warrior.

"What the…" she started but was interrupted.

"**When in Standby Alert Mode, Warrior's weapons systems are also placed in Priority Defensive Mode per default programming. **

**After your initial yell, Warrior activated the Rider Defensive\Offensive Mode, or RDOM, also per default programming. This Mode includes Warrior moving into a position to engage any possible enemy threat detected that might harm you by engaging continuous scans of the surrounding area to ascertain any and all threat levels based on set programming guides.**

**Scans of the building you entered showed no life-signs other then those listed in Warrior's current designated rider database. Scans of the surrounding area based on pre-programmed parameters showed no other human life-signs within set boundaries. At this point, Warrior returned to Standby Alert Mode.**

**However, programming indicated that it might be prudent to remain in closer proximity to you in case continuing scans detect any threat."**

Joss just stood there flabbergasted for a moment, not moving or saying anything. Finally, she said the only thing that popped into her head:

"Ok…"

It took her a few more minutes before she said or did anything else. Finally she closed the door and stepped around Warrior. As she did, she noticed that the sun was starting to set.

"I think we are going to be late getting back to the house," Joss said as she started to think about just how she would explain the events of the day to anyone… 'Really, I spent the whole afternoon taking an experimental and untested vehicle for a ride. And while I was at it, I also helped to capture a bank robber and kidnapper that was leading the Montana State Police and DCI on a high speed chase. Oh by the way, that experimental vehicle I mentioned, did I also say that it could changes shapes, drive it's self or talk too? Or how about the fact that it has rocket boosters and thrusters or grappler beams that can make a car dissolve or project a force shield?'

Rocket boosters…?

Thrusters…?

"Warrior, how long would it take in Flight mode to get back home?"

"**Using a direct flight path, it would take approximately One hour from current location."**

"Just about sunset then…" Joss whispered, thinking that would get her home in time for her father's and Momma-2's planed cookout.

"Well Warrior, I think it's time to give that Flight mode a test ride."

"**Query: are you requesting Flight Mode Joss?"**

"Confirmed Warrior, Flight mode please and thank you."

"**Initiating Reconfiguration to Flight mode now."**

Joss watched as Warrior backed its self up and turned slightly toward the driveway then started to change.

First the wing wedge shape started to get narrower, pulling in on itself. As the wing wedge became smaller, she also saw the wheels start to pull in as well: first from something that appeared to be the width of a small to middle sized car, to that of the overly large ATV that Warrior changed into for its Off-Road mode. The canopy that had opened up for her to exit out of started to again slide forward. This time it did not hinge up but kept moving forward. Collapsing in on itself it continued until it was once again the fairing from the Normal mode Warrior had started out in. As the body work kept shifting, it became clear that the motor had been behind her in Intercept mode. Now it was moving back to a position that looked more normal on a motorcycle.

Joss felt her face go slack as she watched the reconfiguration happing in front of her. For all the other times that Warrior had changed, she had been on it and had not watched the change from the outside.

Not this time.

She could not remember how long it had taken to change from Normal to Pursuit, or from Normal to Off-Road, nor from Pursuit to Intercept, but it had seemed to her to happen in just a few heartbeats as she watched the changes.

Warrior now appeared the same way it did on the monitor after it had changed to Pursuit mode: that of a large three wheeled vehicle with the body work of a sport bike. Then the body work changed again, flowing out from the undercarriage at the front until it merged with the frame and supports of the extended rear wheels then moving outward to create a delta shape. From the rear of the bike, where the fender was, Warrior appeared to be growing a tail which rose up at an angle then pointed backward forming a vertical stabilizer that, once it stopped growing, split into and became a V-twin stabilizer.

"**Reconfiguration to Flight mode now complete."**

Standing there trying to pick her jaw up off the ground, Warrior made one last change. On the twin stabilizers, a word slowly took shape: in a muted red that stood out from the black background, the word "Warrior" appeared one letter at a time in the same calligraphy that her name had appeared when she asked for it sarcastically when the bike had changed into Off-Road mode.

Joss didn't notice the smile that broke out on her face as she put on her helmet and jacket. 'Just what have I started here,' was her thought as she once again climbed aboard Warrior.

Once seated, she reached for the handlebars and gave the throttle a small twist and Warrior took off in a cloud of dust. Once she was down the driveway and back on the blacktop, she pointed Warrior toward the east and opened the throttle up, never noticing the battle suit recharge cable reattaching it's self to the spot between her right heel and ankle. Meanwhile, it only took seconds until the Speedo read a steady 100mph.

"How fast do we need to be running before you can fly Warrior?"

"**Minimum required speed to achieve take-off is 85mph with the assist of the on-board booster and rocket systems. Current speed it sufficient to achieve lift-off without rocket assist. **

**Warning: Current programming requires that Warrior have an FAA approved flight plan before lift-off, however programming can be over-ridden by authorized rider Joss Possible. **

**Query: Do you wish to over-ride programming that requires an FAA approved flight plan?"**

"Confirmed Warrior, no flight plan."

"**Confirming override authorizations, per voice print and palm print for Joss Possible… Override Confirmed… Calculating flight plan to return to Bunker Complex, please stand by. Flight plan configured and transferred into systems… Initiating systems final pre-flight check, please stand-by."**

It then occurred to Joss that she really didn't have any idea how this was going to work. And before she could think to ask, Warrior added:

"**Systems per-flight check complete. Initiating passenger restraint mode… Warrior initiating flight in Three… Two… One… Lift-off."**

Just as Joss registered that the power bands in her battle suit had started to glow again, she heard the sound of Warrior's motor increase from a faint rumble to a full blown roar. While at the same time she could hear the thrusters' firing, as the front of the bike lifted up soaring skyward.

Joss felt herself get pushed backward for just a heartbeat before her battle suit flared for a second time, and then the pressure was gone. Thinking that, once again, Warrior was using the battle suit's shield system as way to counteract the pressure, Joss turned her thoughts on how she was to control the bike as it leveled off just 50 feet above the surrounding trees.

"Joss," Tim's voice spoke over the ear buds, "in Flight Mode, the SIS-V10 has an autopilot just like an airplane. The default setting here is the Autopilot is in control.

However, you can take control if you want too. But before you do that, you need a rundown of the controls."

There was a pause and Joss expected to hear Jim pickup the instructions, but she was surprised when a female voice spoke next.

"Oh, Flight mode…You're going to love that one Joss… I know I did."

"Hope!"

"Would you two stop clowning around here," Said a third voice, the one that Joss had been expecting, Jim Possible.

Joss started giggling as a fourth voice was heard over the ear-buds, another female.

"What are all of you doing locked up in here? Oh, you're recording the instructions for the bike again. Let me see where you are… Oh flight mode… You're going to love that one Joss, I know I did."

"Olivia!"

"You went for a flight with Jim?" Hope asked, a little bit of humor in her voice

"I'll say…"

Joss started laughing as she listened in to Jim, Tim, Olivia, and Hope. The girls, of course, talking about riding with the boys, and the boys promising each other that after they finished recording the instructions, they would edit out the recorded parts with Olivia and Hope. Blackmail in the Possible world could be so sweet, but only with backup.

"Anyway, you will be using the same controls, but they will be acting differently in Flight Mode then from Normal, Off-Road, and Pursuit modes." Jim said.

Without missing a beat, Tim took over. "Your speed is still controlled with the throttle, but you really shouldn't go any slower then about 150mph. Under that speed, the SIS-V10 will need to fire the thrusters continuously to maintain flight. Top speed for Flight Mode is 290mph. Any faster and even with a battle suit on you can't stay onboard due to the resistance."

"The SIS-V10 can hover for a short time, somewhere around 2 hours if pushed, but it will over heat the flight systems by the end of that time and cause a system failure." Jim added behind his brother. "Flight Mode is the most power hungry mode on the SIS-V10. The thrusters, rockets, and booster systems eat a lot of power but don't worry about the power requirement to do something like that. The SIS-V10 is equipped with the newest version of the Mystery Meat Motor, the "Triple M, cubed". And it is also using a new adaptation of the original Mystery Meat that we came up with that packs the same amount of energy from one pound of the old stuff into just a few ounces. With the SIS-V10's tank fully loaded, you should have enough energy to power the bike for quite some time… we figure around a month or two of normal use."

Joss paid attention as her cousins gave the run down on the control systems. The handlebar was now a flight control joystick. The brakes would still slow Warrior down, but only the foot peddle worked that function. In a nutshell, it worked closely to the way you flew a plane in a video game.

She could not help but compare their instructions to those that her Momma2 told her during their flying lessons. Betty had told her that she couldn't see her learning to fly the same way that Kim had: what Betty called the "fly or crash" method. So, Betty had spent most of the first two summers after she married Slim teaching Joss to fly in three of Global Justice's trainer planes.

Over those summer breaks, almost every waking moment of Joss' time was spent learning about flying. The first weeks were spent just on the basics of flight: including how the control surfaces worked, basic plane design and mechanics, and instrumentation. Once she had that down, the real fun started… Flying.

And like anything presented as a challenge to anyone born with the last name Possible, Joss learned quickly spending hours with Betty in the cockpit and more hours still in a flight simulator that somehow made its way to the Bunker. Agents Frank Grams and Frankie Harrison never could figure out why a new flight simulator was shipped to the Global Justice Recovery and Reclamation Center, affectionately known as the "Trash Heap", and then shipped out to the Bunker's level 5 storage area.

She mastered flying a single engine prop plane quickly, and didn't even scratch the paint when Betty flipped the switch that killed the power and forced Joss to do an emergency landing with a dead stick on one of the ranch's dirt back roads. And Betty found that unless told otherwise, Joss liked flying low. Sometimes a little to low for Betty's nerves, as she had been trained herself in the old school method of "Altitude was your friend". Still treetop flying was a stealth tactic for radar evasion and Betty was amazed that Joss had the stomach for it. By the end of the first summer, when Joss completed her instrumentation only flight, Betty moved her to the second trainer, a twin prop plane.

Like in the first plane, Joss learned quickly. Mastering the twin engine plane the same way she had the single. However, unlike the single engine trainer, the twin was rated for acrobatics so Betty started her training in air combat, or "Dog Fighting" by the middle of the second summer.

Joss soon discovered that she loved the combat training. To her it was like ridding a rollercoaster of her own creation with as many twists, turns, and bends as she liked. Not to mention barrel rolls. And though Betty had logged many hours in the cockpit, Joss' combat training made her start to think that CP had it right after all: "This game is for the young, or the young at heart anyway." Especially after ridding "co-pilot" with her during three flights that included Lieutenant Commander Lindsey Peterson acting the role of "enemy pilot" and trying to shoot them down. And after that training flight, Betty made sure that she didn't eat before they started.

The third summer, Betty moved her to the third and last trainer, the Jet. Again, Joss learned quickly. A week before the summer's end, Betty had Lieutenant Commander Peterson give her the tests that would make Joss a certified pilot by FAA rules and regulations with her certificate of ratings for: Instrument, multiengine, and jet. All without any restrictions. Joss passed with flying colors: Betty and Slim had the upper six figure fuel and maintenance bills to prove to.

Then Lindsey turned her loose on William Du for a final test, after Agent Du insisted he give "the test" personally: certification for flying a Global Justice JumpJet. Only Lindsey didn't tell Will that Joss had already passed the test. Both Lindsey and Betty told her later that she was the only person to pass the certification while having Agent Du go through all the air sickness bags issued on a single JumpJet. On a single flight.

Joss looked at the Speedo on Warrior and saw they were maintaining a speed of 220mph. The monitor was also displaying a basic map with an indicator showing their current location. The course was laid out as a line from the current location indicator icon that continued up the screen and disappeared off the monitor.

'Just keep the icon on the line, keep moving forward, and you'll be home by dinner' she thought to her self. 'So simple, even Ron could do it.'

Shaking her head at her own terrible joke at Ron's expense, she decided to try her hand at the controls.

"Warrior?"

"**Yes"**

"I want to give the controls a try now, Please and Thank you."

"**Query: you wish to assume total control of Warrior's systems at this time?"**

She had her answer on the tip of her tongue then the wording of Warrior's question sank in: assume total control of Warrior's systems. She paused for a moment to think it over.

"How about I take control of speed, altitude, and direction? You can keep all other systems under automatic control."

"**Request understood… Turning over directional, altitude, and velocity to manual control of rider in Three… Two… One. Limited Manual control active."**

The only change that Joss noticed was the addition of a "artificial horizon" gage to the display on the monitor. Giving the throttle a little additional twist, Joss watched the Speedo rise from 220 to 240. With that success, she gave the handlebar a slight pull and watched as the artificial horizon gage indicated she had now placed Warrior into a small climb.

"What's our current altitude Warrior?"

"**250 feet and climbing."**

She waited a few minutes then leveled off using what she saw around her and the horizon gage. Next she gave the handlebar a bit of pressure on the right, and felt Warrior bank right. Then repeated with the left until the position icon was back dead on the flight path line.

Leaving everything set for a moment, she took a look around and was rewarded for her effort as she watched the landscape flow by under her. The tree tops giving everything a cover like a thick wavy carpet that had touches of brown and blue mixed it.

After a little while, she came to one the buttes that was on the flight path. Applying more throttle she pulled the handlebar back again and started to climb over it. As she crested the top, she looked down and had her breath taken away at the beauty before her. She could see a seemingly lazy stream that carved its way down the side of the butte, and over there to her right was a herd of buffalo's grazing in a clearing.

A kind of peace settled on her as she watched the ground roll along under her and she could feel a child like wonder fill her heart. And suddenly, she felt like a small kid again.

Then without any thought or warning, she twisted the throttle all the way open, and watched the speed climb until it reached 270. Then she pulled back on the handle bar with everything she had and watched the sky fill her sight. She heard Warrior, warning that she was starting a loop and was increasing the rider restrains, but she didn't care. That's just what she wanted to do.

As the ground came back into view, she could hear herself giggling like crazy. And she didn't stop even after she did a second loop. Still feeling the child inside her wanting to play, she grabbed what would have been the clutch lever on any motorcycle and on Warrior in manual mode, pulled it in and gave a pull on the handlebar to the right. She watched as again the sky and the ground traded places, but this time was from her rolling Warrior to the right… into a barrow roll.

She completed three rotations before she stopped, laughing all the while.

"**Warrior is receiving requests for identification from the Malmstrom Air Force Base and the Logan International Airport."**

Killing her laughter, She called out "snake muffins" then as her mind raced into gear she asked, "What's our altitude Warrior?"

"**Current altitude is 9,500 feet and climbing. Approaching limit set per programming for flight without rider wearing a pressure suit."**

"High enough to be spotted on radar."

She looked down at the display and only found the artificial horizon gage there besides the normal gages that Warrior had displayed.

"**Once Warrior reached an altitude of over approximately 850 feet, Warrior could be seen by both the radar systems at Malmstrom Air Base and Logan International Airport."**

She pushed down on the handlebar hard, and with the Speedo reading over 290, banked hard to the left Ninety degrees away from the flight path back to the ranch.

"Give me an altimeter Warrior. And get ready for some hard maneuvering in just a few seconds."

"**Initiating Flight Rider Defensive\Offensive Mode or FRDOM… Placing flight combat systems in alert standby mode… Initiating rider safety procedures Baker 21 through Charlie 29 Delta… Initiating Battle Suit protection subroutines Baker 1Alpha through Baker 3 Epsilon... Request confirmed. FRDOM is active and combat systems are in alert standby mode."**

Warrior added the requested altimeter to the display as she forced a stepper dive. Watching the altimeter's numbers lower like a racing digital clock counting down the final seconds to the end of a game, she gripped the handlebar tighter: waiting for the numbers to reach below the 850 feet that Warrior had mentioned. When they sped below 750 feet, she pulled up on the bar hard, the bands of the battle suit flaring bright, bringing Warrior out of the dive yards above the tree tops.

She held the course change she had made before she started the dive for several minutes putting some distance between her and the last location that the radar systems had placed her at. Looking at the location map, she watched the distance between her and the ranch increase by over 20 miles each time she blinked her eyes.

As she started making zigzag course changes, first heading to the right then to the left, she kept one eye on the Speedo making sure it didn't fall below 280mph. After continuing the maneuvers for over 10 minutes, she slowly changed her course back to the flight path back to the ranch.

"Status Warrior."

"**Both radar systems from the Malmstrom Air Force Base along with the Logan International Airport lost radar contact once flight altitude fell below approximately 850 feet. The logs for air traffic control from both systems are reporting the contact as an unidentified flying object, a glitch in the radar systems, or a possible agriculture pilot joyriding."**

She looked at the display; the altimeter read 820ft, Speedo steady at 290mph, and the artificial horizon showing a level flight path.

"Sounds good Warrior. I'm not worried about Logan; it's Malmstrom that's got my attention. Anything from them about sending an interceptor after us?"

"**Malmstrom Airbase traffic control logs have recorded a number of instances where agriculture pilots have strayed into restricted air space. At those times, the airbase has a record of sending out a helicopter to check the intrusion. As Warrior did not enter restricted airspace, the airbase is logging the incident as an agricultural pilot not replying to a request for identification."**

She considered the information. If the information was right, they were home free. No action taken by either the airbase or the airport. Both suited her just fine.

Checking the location map and making sure the icon was still following the flight path, Joss again took a moment to look around at the ground flying by under her. The ranches and farms, the pastures and the fields. The different shades of green and brown as things moved by. And a feeling of tranquility passed over her. The feeling of home that called to her in a way that she could not describe. With the feeling of serenity filling her, she gently pushed on the bars and lowered herself and Warrior until the altimeter read 490ft. She lost all meaning of time as she flew over the Montana landscape. The wonder of it all calling out to the child in her again. And that child answered the call.

As she passed over a pasture, she circled it watching the cows wandering over to the bales of hay that where there for them. When she came across another stream, she slowed her speed and followed it for a few moments, skimming just feet above. When she came across a windmill farm, she could not stop herself from flying an entwining course through them as she smiled.

She lost all sense of time as she watched the wonders that was her home fly by under her. The timber stands full of oak trees that where old before she was born, the fields of grassland where cattle grazed, the streams that added a blue high light to the green and brown canvas that was the earth below.

"**Approaching the Bunker Complex Airfield."**

She was bought out of her thoughts at Warrior's announcement as she had really lost herself in the beauty that she had seen.

'Joy ride over' she thought as she saw the familiar ranchland that was now racing under her.

"Any air traffic that we need to know about Warrior?"

"**Per programming, Warrior contacted the Bunker…"**

She wondered at the pause in Warrior's response to her question, then broke into a grin with it started again.

"**Not at this time. However there are a number of aircraft on the tarmac."**

"Anyone we know?"

"**Please restate query."**

Trying not to giggle at Warrior, she asked again "Can you identify the aircraft?"

"**Reengaging auto control for landing, per preprogrammed instructions. Based on the insignia on the craft, the helicopters belong to the Montana State Police, DCI, and Malmstrom Air Force Base."**

"Snake Muffins" she muttered under her breath as she felt Warrior resume control and line up with the runway. In just moments Warrior was back on the ground and racing down the runway as it had used very little of the airstrip to land.

"Normal Mode Warrior" she said as she thought more about what the helicopters could mean.

"**Initiating reconfiguration to Normal mode."**

Her mind on the helicopters and what them being here at the ranch could mean, didn't pay any attention has Warrior again changed under her. As the rear tires retraced back to their original configuration and the body work that had connected them and had formed the wings collapsed back into the main body, and the rear twin stabilizers disappeared back into the rear body work, she slowed the bike down as she approached one of the two taxiways that would take her to the hangers and then to the access roads.

Turning onto the taxiway, Warrior finished its reconfiguration back to Normal mode as Joss got the bike down to 40 mph and finally 10 mph. Taking first a right then a left turn, she started down the road that would take her back to the intersection that lead to the underground garage. Telling Warrior to open the garage door, she turned left heartbeats later onto the access ramp and started down with less then two feet of clearance as the cover that hid the access slid back between her helmet and the door. A second or three later the door started to close, once again hiding the access from sight.

Once back in the garage, she stopped on the same lift that the bike had risen from. With both feet on the floor she removed her helmet and spoke quietly "Warrior, lower the bike stand please and thank you."

"**Stand lowering now Joss."**

Joss wanted the few seconds it took to feel Warrior settle its self and start to rise before she dismounted then stood there as the bike returned to the same position it had been at the start of her little ride.

"What do I need to do now Warrior?"

"**Query: Have you finished you ride Joss?"**

"Yes, I think we are done now Warrior."

"**Negative Joss. Warrior will now shutdown."**

Nodding her head she removed the ear buds and replaced them back into the compartment that she had gotten them from then turned to face the lockers. She had taken just a few steps that way when Warrior asked a question.

"**Joss, was this fun?"**

Stopping dead in her tracks, she turned to face the bike.

Was this fun? She thought about it for a few minutes then a smile started to spread across her face. She had been riding an experimental vehicle across Montana, gotten involved a high speed police chase, helped in the arrest and capture of a bank robber and a kidnapper, and then had taken that experimental vehicle for a small test flight back across the state. As the smile finished it's growth she gave her answer.

"Yes Warrior… that was fun."

"Query: May Warrior kept the settings for rider Joss Possible as the default settings?"

She could not stop the laugh that rose from inside. With the thought of 'Just what have I created?' racing through her mind she said that she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Confirmed Joss. Warrior is shutting down."

Finishing her walked to the lockers, she repeated the process that got her into them earlier and removed her normal clothes. Then once back inside the changing room, she quickly changed her out of her battle suit and back into her street clothes. After she had replaced the battle suit in its locker, she walked over to the elevator and pressed the call button.

When the doors opened she stepped inside, turned around and watched the doors close.

"Wade-A, Ground floor Please and thank you."

As Joss felt the elevator start to rise, she leaned against the back wall and took a deep breath. She looked up and watched the level indicator move from 4 to 3 when she realized that Wade-A hadn't said anything to her… no music as she changed clothes, no request for her to sing, or bat her eyes at him.

No flirting.

Something was wrong.

"Wade-A?"

"Yes my Gossamer Berry Goddess?"

"Something going on that I should know about?"

"Not that I know of Sweet Tea."

She thought she could hear a faint laugh or a grin in that statement. Before she could think of something to say the doors opened on the ground floor.

She exited the elevator and started to the door as different things starting going through her mind on what was going on with the Bunker's Avatar. When she passed the reception desk she noticed the person setting there was watching a newsfeed of the Jones capture. The image currently on the screen shown an odd wing shaped something speeding away from the scene that was brown and had the Fearless Ferret emblem on it.

Picking up her pace, she could not stop thinking of just one word: Crap.

Taking advantage of her long legs she quickly made her way out of the Bunker and into the house. Closing the door behind her, she paused for a moment and strained her ears to hear anything or one talking in the house. Shortly she could hear faintly the sounds of voices talking in the den.

Trying to make less sound then Rufus makes when on the prowl for a good block of aged smoked Gouda, she eased her way to the den's door. Just as she got by the doorframe, she could overhear a woman's voice that she knew._ Melisandretti Claremore_

"… I understand Slim. But when I'm getting reports from the Montana State Police about someone or something interfering with an ongoing criminal investigation and a high speed chase, my department takes notice. Add to that all the reports that the Highway department, State Police, and county Sheriff's departments got about a UFO traveling down I-94 to fast for them to measure that moved other vehicles aside to allow it to pass then move them back. Then there was the activation of a State Police Interceptor Tag in the MERLIN system that was assigned to BlazeIT vehicle SIS-V10 and the reported addition to the chase team of that vehicle that was given to myself and Captain Meadows… but never showed up. Unless somehow BlazeIT is working with the Fearless Ferret."

Joss listened to Mel take a deep breath then she added, "Dash in the way that Jones was captured, plus the reports that I heard about coming from Malmstrom Air Force Base, and I get only one answer. And that answer is spelled "POSSIBLE."

Before she could even mutter, she heard another voice that she knew. Wade-A

"Slim… Betty, I believe there is someone at the door that you might like to have a word with."

Knowing it was no use to put it off, Joss picked her head up and walked into the den. Inside she found what she really didn't want to see.

Both Slim and Betty looked upset, Mel was a cross between upset amused, and just plain mad, Wade had a slightly confused look on his face, and Will Du was trying to keep from laughing.

Slim looked at his daughter and with a very grim tone of voice said, "**Andrea Jocelyn Possible."**

Then without missing a beat, Elizabeth Isis Possible, continued with "We need to talk young lady."

Wade, still looking slightly confused but it was clear that he was catching up, said "I do believe your busted, Sweet Tea…"

Mel added with a big grin on her face, "Young Lady, you got some 'splainin to do…"

Feeling like a small girl again that had just been caught by her daddy for playing with her whips in the house again, Joss lowered her head and stared at her feet as she muttered under her breath, "Oops."

Everyone heard laughter from the overhead speakers, and it took them about a second to recognize the combine voices of the Tornado Avatar's laughing and whiney at the same time. Then Wade-A's voice sang:

"And she'll have fun, fun, fun, until her daddy takes the Warrior away…"

Before he could stop himself Wade asked "What's a Warrior?"

The end..

Author's notes:

This whole story started out with me helping out cpneb with a section in one of his "Blue Eyes Shining" stories. He needed some help or information about motorcycles.

I helped out and gave him some input.

A bit later, we were talking and he mentioned that he wanted to carry on the motorcycle idea into his stories, but into the future a bit. I told him that I would give him a 5 paragraph\page thing on what I thought the next step in the bikes evolution would be like… going from version 1 to version 10.

That turned into this story. A story that he co-wrote with me. During the late part of April this year, 2010, I could not contact him. I, along with others here, found out that on May 10, 2010 he passed from this world and went on to the next.

I know that he was enjoying this tale. And I enjoyed it too.

There is one last chapter that can be written here. But I think I'll leave it here.

Star

And just to make sure that everything is cool with legal stuff out there:

Kim Possible, and its characters, are copyright by Disney Inc. I'm just playing here for the fun of it.

The Stripper, composed by David Rose

The Entertainer, composed by Scott Joplin

NHRA is copyrighted by The National Hot Rod Association


End file.
